Before considering specific tools to address housing affordability, advocates should undertake a two-step community planning process.

Define the Problem

The first step of this process will be to define the problem. This may not sound like an important step. After all, everyone knows the problem, right? In fact, there are often important differences in the way people from the same community view issues like affordable housing. Very often, local merchants have different attitudes than residents do, and higher income homeowners may see things differently than lower income tenants. Getting these differences out on the table early is crucial before moving on to goals and strategies.

Get the Facts. To help make sense of the various community opinions and attitudes, gather some facts about the housing situation: Who is being evicted? Where are rents going up the most?  Is there a geographic trend-is the housing on one side of the community gentrifying faster than another?  Is there a particular group being singled out (Section 8 tenants or a specific racial or ethnic group)?  What is the regional economic and political dynamic, and how does the neighborhood or community in question fit into that context?

Most local governments are required to track information about housing and incomes. Ideally, a region or jurisdiction should have a comprehensive housing affordability plan which could both inform, and be informed by, neighborhood-level investigations like this. Such a plan would assess the housing stock, categorize it by level and type of affordability, and suggest ways to maintain the desired level of affordability.

Unfortunately, not many jurisdictions have developed this notion to its fullest extent.  In order to be truly effective, advocates will usually need to gather more recent or specific information on their own. Gathering this information can be a great way to engage and organize people.

Identify Top Problems. Combining facts and community priorities, advocates can begin to identify the most pressing concerns. In most communities experiencing gentrification, low-income renters in privately owned rental housing are at risk of displacement. There may be more immediate threats, however, to residents of publicly owned housing. Or the problem may be that grown children of neighborhood residents are unable to find housing in their home community. Other common issues are overcrowding and a lack of affordable homeownership options.

Examine Housing Policies. Finally, determine the existing housing policies in the jurisdiction.

• Do they help or hurt the community, especially in light of its most pressing concerns?
• Do the policies support or promote equitable development?
• Are there resources for affordable housing available?
• How does regional oversight come into play?
• Does the state have legislation that affects the climate for the maintenance and development of affordable housing?
• Is activism for housing policies traditionally effective in the area?

Set Goals .  Once the problem is defined, the next step is to set some specific goals. Having the goals focused on the identified problem(s) is crucial.  If the problem is that renters in smaller 2- and 3-unit buildings are being evicted through condominium conversions, the goals should reflect that focus.  One can always go back and decide on additional goals if it is discovered that the focus was too narrow or off target.

On the other hand, make sure the goals are positive and proactive.

Also include the aspects of the neighborhood that are not problems and should be preserved. Are residents pleased with some aspects of gentrification, even though they are unhappy with others?  Are organizers and advocates trying to preserve the neighborhood's physical character? Maintain an ethnic, racial, or cultural identity?

In all likelihood, there will be multiple goals. Participants will need to prioritize. Is there focus primarily on very-low income families, formerly homeless adults, or moderate-income renters that want to be homeowners?  Many communities decide to start with strategies that serve the people most at risk.  Again, this involves agreeing on who those people are and where in the community they live.

In setting goals, it's also important to take stock of community assets.

• Is there vacant housing or land that could be used more effectively?
• Are there community members who work in construction, real estate, or banking?
• What is the volume and capacity of community organizations?
• What is the level of responsiveness of local government and public agencies?

The assets available may make some goals more feasible than others, which can help prioritize them.

Finally, a key consideration for the success of an affordable housing strategy is to have high participation levels from a range of stakeholders as early as possible. They should be involved at least in the goal setting, and preferably at the stage of defining the problem.  Attempting to generate involvement in a program once the strategy is chosen is much more difficult because people feel less of a sense of ownership in something they had no hand in designing.

Resources :

Coalition for Low-Income Community Development provides information on funding for community revitalization and how to implement model community planning processes.  CLICD also assists on community-based planning and community mapping using geographic information system (GIS) software.

Asset-Based Community Development Institute produces practical resources and tools for community builders to identify, nurture, and mobilize neighborhood assets.

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