ICMA releases affordable housing publication
Inclusionary zoning, which requires developers to provide affordable housing in market-rate housing projects, and counseling for homeowners at risk of foreclosure have proven effective in increasing the amount of affordable housing in many communities, according to a new publication from the Washington-based International City/County Management Association (ICMA). The “ICMA Management Perspective: Housing Affordability,” lists case studies and strategies that local governments can use to assure that entry-level teachers, police officers and other “essential workers” have affordable housing.
Along with inclusionary zoning and counseling, public education programs aimed at overcoming residents’ objections to affordable housing has proven effective in encouraging the construction of homes low- and medium-income working families can afford, urban policy consultant David Rusk says in “Affordable Housing.” The publication is available at www.icma.org.