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Summer 2003
Compact Development Makes Houses Affordable in the Central Valley
When people hear the word "density", they often
think of barracks-style public housing projects, overcrowding or
crime-ridden inner cities. While some of the high-density development
of the last 40 years has reinforced these perceptions, well-designed
compact development can actually help create more affordable housing
opportunities and more livable communities. Examples are emerging
in the Central Valley that we can all learn from.
Case Study: New Horizons Infill Project, Reedley.
When community developer Self
Help Enterprises (SHE) approached the City of Reedley to partner
on the New Horizons housing project, they knew they had a challenge.
The new affordable homes had to fit on a 6.6 acre flag-shaped parcel
surrounded by development on all sides. There was no way the project
could pencil out for affordable single-family homes if built to
conventional subdivision standards.
But SHE had two advantages: a solid reputation in the community
as a developer of quality affordable housing and the City’s
commitment to smart growth as embodied in the award-winning Reedley
Specific Plan. Adopted in 2001, the Specific Plan serves as a tool
to implement the community vision of attractive, pedestrian-friendly
development in new growth areas that conserves farmland by allowing
density increases. In working with SHE on the project, Community
Development Director Fred Brusuelas notes that the Specific Plan
offered alternative standards and the design flexibility needed
to help the project be economically viable. According to SHE Deputy
Director Tom Collishaw, while conventional standards for a single
family subdivision would have only allowed development of 19 lots
at the site, concepts from the Specific Plan, such as reduced front
yard setbacks and narrower streets, helped make room for development
of 35 homes and a neighborhood pocket park.
 While
this “affordable” development is targeted to low-income
families, New Horizons is an attractive and welcome addition in
an area of the city that has been marked with substandard housing
and poorly maintained apartments. Streetscapes are compact, with
tree-planted roadside parkways. Standard home designs include expanded
front porches, recessed garages, and a variety of building elevations
and color schemes along with energy efficient appliances and lighting,
whole house fans, low flow plumbing fixtures and full front yard
landscaping. Other neighborhood residents can access the pocket
park, and New Horizons residents will be within walking distance
of a local grocery store and other services.
Assisted by zero owner interest-deferred payment loans through
the City redevelopment agency, the first group of self-help homebuilders
began construction in December 2002. The project is scheduled for
full build-out in 2004. For more information, contact Reedley Community
Development Director Fred Brusuelas at 559-637-4200, ext. 222/fred.brusuelas@reedley.com
or Self Help Enterprises Deputy Director Tom Collishaw at 559-651-1000.
More case studies, New Best Practices Guidebook.
With funding support from the Great Valley Center, the Planning
and Conservation League Foundation (PCLF) and the California
Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) are putting the final touches
on their new joint publication, Smart Growth and Affordable Housing:
Best Practices in the Central Valley. The guide will showcase
twelve trend-setting affordable housing developments in the Central
Valley (including the New Horizons project) that serve as examples
of how smart land use, housing affordability and environmental protection
go hand in hand by incorporating criteria such as:
- Compact, mixed use development and use of vacant land in existing
urban areas
- Pedestrian, bicycle and transit accessibility and orientation
- Integration of public spaces and services into neighborhoods
and communities
- Energy and water efficiency and conservation, and other techniques
Smart Growth and Affordable Housing is expected to be ready
by the end of the summer. Following its release, PCLF will partner
with CCRH in November, 2003 to offer two Central Valley workshops
on the smart growth-affordable housing connection. For more information,
contact Marc de la Vergne at (916) 313-4520/mdelavergne@pcl.org.
More Resources.
Check out the HUD -developed Affordable
Housing Design Advisor web site. It addresses good design, why
it is important and how to achieve it. The site includes an online
database of compact housing developments.
Check out LGC’s new “Compact
Development for More Livable Communities” fact sheet and
Compact
Development Compact Disc (CD2) Toolkit. The fact sheet illustrates
the importance of including a mix of land uses, open space, landscaping,
front porches, and providing amenities in compact development to
create livable places and address community concerns about increased
density. An elected official's checklist is provided to insure that
compact housing fits into a community and is well-designed. The
CD toolkit is a compact disk that includes a 65-slide PowerPoint™
presentation, case studies with images of 60 projects from around
the state, interactive tools to engage viewers in discussions of
higher density housing, and more.
LGC is also developing two PowerPoint presentations illustrating
the attractiveness and environmental, public health and economic
benefits of well-designed compact development, traffic calming features
and well-connected narrow streets. They’ll be customized for
a Valley audience to help local governments and activists to increase
understanding and gain support for compact development with pedestrian,
bicycle and transit friendly streets. Contact Josh Meyer for more
information at 916-448-1198, ext. 310/jmeyer@lgc.org.
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