FACTORS AFFECTING HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

AUGUST, 2013

Terry Mitchell

HOUSING . . . SUBURBAN EXAMPLE . . .

ABOUT 240 NET ACRES

600 Units

300 Park Acres

Housingpushed

Outward

Majority of New Home OwnershipGrowth is occurring outside the urban core.

75-Mile No.-So.Metro Area

30% of All Metro Jobslocated in 4 urban zipcodes – 01,03,04,05

92% of 230k jobsIn urban core liveoutside 4 urbanzip codes.

44% of 01 workersearn less than $20per hour.

Housing + Transportation Affordability Index – Austin Metro

http://htaindex.cnt.org/map/

How does Austin Stack Up?

8 Red Line Stations to Downtown

What Happens When Housing is Placed at TODs?

Though hard to measure, TOD residentsclearly reduce vehicle trips and use the rail line.

“Reasons for Living in A Transit-OrientedDevelopment, and Associated Transit Use.” by Hollie Lund

Eight train stations to Downtown.

If each TOD could house 2,000 Housing units, the Red Line couldhave 16,000 units housing between 24,000 to 32,000 residents.

Could we guess that around 50% of the residents would ride the train?If so, then between 12,000 and 16,000 residents would ride the train.

As such, between 24,000 and 32,000auto trips per day will be avoided – the equivalent of an arterial road.

THEN WHAT ABOUT JOBS AT TODS?

Other Benefits and Requirements of Living in TODs:

• By living at a TOD, a resident might be able to eliminate a car. Annual Savings to $8,000 per year.

• Creating a Vision of a “complete” community, TODs often become de facto town centers for neighborhoods near the transit station. A “complete” community evolves and includes housing, neighborhood services, public spaces, a broad variety of uses and activities.

• In addition to the direct benefits of housing located at a TOD, many metro areas intentionally locate jobs at opposite ends of the transit line to utilize both directions of the rail line.

Other Ways to Look at Housing Issues

• If we are putting most of our reasonably-priced housing in the outlying areas of the Austin SMA, what do we do?

• There are three ways to lower the cost of housing:– Cheapen the product (can have implications)– Increase the density– Make the units smaller

Density Helps Affordability

Consider our Growth

• Austin (metro) is expected to grow 580,000 people over the next 10 years . . .

• Austin grew 67,000 in 2011. • Many of our development regulations are

focused on “low density”, “preservation of the environment” . . .

• Density might be what we need . . .

What will Austin look like in 10 years?

• 580,000 new residents . . . At 2.6 people per housing unit, means 223,077 new housing units will be needed . . .

Suburban Density of 3 Units/Acre

• At a suburban density of 3 units per acre, we will need 74,359 acres of land to house just our population growth over the next 10 years.

• . . . or 116 square miles. . . .

Townhome Density of 10 Units/Acre

• At a townhome density of 10 units per acre, we will need 22,308 acres of land to house just our population growth over the next 10 years.

• . . . Or 35 square miles. . . .

Downtown Density of 200 Units/Acre

At a downtown density of 200 units per acre, we will need 1,115 acres of land to house just our population growth over the next 10 years.

. . . Or 1.7 square miles. . . .

What Differing Densities Look Like

2500 Miles

700 Miles

40 Miles

How Austin Grows Affects Our City: – Costs of Long-Term Maintenance of Streets and Utilities – The Number of Police Stations, Fire Stations, Libraries – The Types and Alternatives for Transportation – The Consumption of Our Open Space – The Use of our Natural Resources

So, just maybe, it is a good idea to add density?

Approximate Lengths of Roads/Utilities Associated with Austin’s Expected10-Year Growth at Suburban, Townhome and Urban Densities

Consumption of Open Space

Consumption of Natural Resources

Tax basis per acre . . . Hurting City Finances

Thank You!