How Location Efficient Is LIHTC? Measuring and Explaining State-Level Achievement

A growing recognition that the cost of transportation should be included in calculations of housing affordability has led to efforts to promote location efficiency (LE) in affordable housing policy. Because the program is responsible for most new affordable housing in the United States, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program has the potential to be a link between housing affordability and LE. This research analyzes the extent to which LIHTC units built between 2007 and 2011 were in location-efficient places. Ordinary least squares regression analysis was used to test the role of market, policy, developer, and urban form factors in determining state-level LIHTC LE. We find that for the nation as a whole, from a quarter to half of LIHTC units added during this period were in location-efficient places, depending on the LE criteria applied. State-by-state comparisons showed wide variation in both our absolute measures of LIHTC LE and our relative measures of LIHTC LE compared with overall housing in each state. State policy and nonprofit developers were associated with higher LIHTC LE and had a positive effect on a state’s ability to outperform its underlying urban form.     

Untangling Housing Cost and Transportation Interactions: The Location Affordability Index Model—Version 2 (LAIM2)

Abstract

It is now accepted that to have an understanding of housing affordability one must consider not only housing costs, but also the transportation costs associated with that household location. To make this information readily accessible to the public, the United States government created an Internet resource, the Location Affordability Portal – Version 2 (www.locationaffordability.info), to provide housing and transportation costs for every neighborhood in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Although the statistical model at the heart of this resource was designed for predictive accuracy, its design and parameter estimates can provide additional insights into the interaction of housing cost and transportation choices (and thus its cost). This study describes the development and explores the policy implications (and limitations) of this structural equations model, the Location Affordability Index Model – Version 2 (LAIM2).     

Comment on Carl Abbott's “The Portland region: Where city and suburbs talk to each other—and often agree”

Abstract

The Portland, OR, area's urban growth boundary is an idea whose benefits to the region may depend on a willingness to expand the boundary occasionally. The parable contained in this comment suggests that the declared unwillingness to expand the urban growth boundary could have contributed to Portland's recent sudden increase in housing prices. It further suggests that an inflexible attitude toward the boundary could cause long‐run losses in employment in the Portland region, with few if any offsetting environmental benefits. Other regions should be aware of the potential drawbacks of installing such a boundary.     

The Portland region: Where city and suburbs talk to each other—and often agree

Abstract

Portland, OR, is often cited as an example of successful regional governance and planning. The metropolitan area appears to match many of the precepts of the popular “compact city” model of urban growth and to demonstrate the capacity of local and state government to shape growing metropolitan regions. Given this reputation, it is important to evaluate the relevance of the Portland experience for other communities, distinguishing unique local circumstances from generalizable characteristics.

This analysis explores the spatial character of metropolitan Portland in the 1990s, summarizes the politics of regional planning, examines weaknesses in the Portland approach, and offers suggestions for other metropolitan areas. The study finds that many of Portland's accomplishments center on urban design, but that the region's most distinguishing characteristic is its attention to political process. The discussion concludes with suggestions about the value of extensive civic discourse, incremental policy making, and institution building.     

About Historical Centers： Is the Trend Toward D6cor Really Irresistible？

In this paper, it is set out that projects in the historical centers of the large European cities are characterized either by historical truth, by authenticity, or by spectacle （d6cor）. There is always a formatting of space and behaviors, but it is either for culture or for entertainment （＂atmospheres＂）. This is confirmed when companies using Internet, which are specialized in ＂events＂, manage historical monuments. Also, a monument can be used for entertainment, as if it was a piece of d6cor. Possibly, preservation of heritage leads to d6cor. Therefore, the question of the limits of the trend toward d6cor is posed, and the topic is dealt with in the paper. The ideas of the French philosopher Lipovetsky are used. In a society with these characteristics, democracy, individualism and consumption, when in a group tastes and desires are shared, it can obtain decisions in accordance with the preferences of its members. The opinion of consumers （visitors or tourists） and inhabitants is paramount. Therefore, the set of the projects in the historical center of some cities should be somewhere in a triangle made up of historical truth, authenticity and spectacle. It is because if there is a need of entertainment, there is also a need of authenticity （and memory）. This ambiguity exists for a long time in tourism, architecture and even in the science called history. No wonder if it exists also in the projects chosen to fashion the historical centers.     

Confronting Urban Crisis and Opportunity in the 1990s: An Insiders’ View on How Fannie Mae’s Housing Research Helped Reset Policy and Remade Cities

In response to the urban crisis of the early 1990s, the government-sponsored enterprise known as Fannie Mae used what would become the Annual Housing Conference (AHC) to influence urban and housing policy. This article traces the history of the AHC in relation to Housing Policy Debate as part of a concerted effort of Fannie Mae to invest in and upgrade the quality of urban and housing policy research during the 1990s. The impact of these conferences on the policy community in universities, Washington DC, the states, and indeed the world is analyzed by highlighting some of work that came out of the more influential conferences including the 1991 Homeless Conference, the 1994 Access to Opportunity Conference, and the 1997 Social Capital Conference. The article is concluded with an appraisal of the AHC’s legacy.     

Building for the Future: Where Should We Build Houses to Stimulate the Economy?

The UK's housing problem has become an economic one. Finding ways to boost the supply of housing across the UK is currently near the top of the Government's economic growth and jobs agenda. As a result of failed policies over the past 60 years ‐ policymakers’ unwillingness to tackle NIMBY interests, a complex national planning system, developers’ unwillingness and inability to build housing at the volume required to maintain stable prices, changing preferences amongst the population ‐ the scale of the problem is vast. However, for any hope of success for the Government's housing strategy, it is vital to understand the extent to which the housing landscape varies significantly across different parts of the country.     

Environment-shaping: An Alternative Approach to Applying Foreign Development Assistance

Development assistance has a chequered past, in large part because planning for development assistance is historically such a fractured enterprise internally, and so disassociated from development assistance recipients’ assets and needs. The authors of environment-shaping offer an alternative development programme planning methodology that highlights above all else the ever-important relationship between development assistance and the environment into which it is offered. The authors employ an asset-based, rather than a traditional deficit-based, approach to assessing the environment for which development assistance will be formulated. The authors then highlight the power of perceptions in the creation of policy programming and in identifying and reinforcing opportunities for positive feedback loops within the recipient environment as critical to truly ‘sustainable’ development.     

基于生态学思想的城市规划专业教学改革

随着城市的发展,产生了一系列的城市生态安全问题,但是,生态学思想在城市规划专业教育体系中没有引起足够重视,与规划师这一特殊职业人才的培养要求存在较大差距。本文提出应从优化师资队伍结构、结合生态学思想的城市规划专业教育、健全专业教育制度三个方面加强城市规划专业的生态学教育。