Housing bill links preservation to location

Affordable Senior Housing, originally uploaded by faceless b.

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the combined burden of housing and transportation on low-income families. Many household budgets are being squeezed and people from every income level are looking to decrease their costs.

A number of new studies have shown that neighborhoods that seem affordable when housing costs are examined alone (usually distant from a city center) become very expensive when the costs of commuting to work and accessing everyday essentials are added into the equation. The good news is that federal lawmakers are recognizing this cost and setting in place policies that will help to ensure that poor households aren’t overwhelmed by housing OR transportation costs.

In late July, the House Financial Services Committee approved the Housing Preservation and Tenant Protection Act of 2010 (HR 4868). The legislation is aimed at stemming the loss of affordable rental units across the country and preventing the displacement of low-income tenants in the process. And thanks to an amendment that Smart Growth America worked on with Representative Lynch’s (D-MA) office to add to the bill, it will do a better job of ensuring that the units located near regional job centers, within walking distance of essential community services, and, where applicable, near a planned or existing transit station, are prioritized in that process.

It will also direct the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to gather information about the proximity of subsidized housing units to transit stations and frequently served bus stations, and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide the data HUD needs to do so – a critical (currently missing) piece that will allow researchers to more accurately track linkages between affordable housing and transportation choices.

Because land prices in walkable places are at a premium, creating new affordable housing that is close to jobs and transit stations can be very expensive for cash-strapped public agencies, making the preservation of existing units a critical strategy. Unfortunately, though, a 2009 study of 20 major metropolitan areas found that federal contracts for 69% of affordable apartments located within a ½-mile radius of public transit stations were set to expire by 2014 . Representative Lynch’s amendment will help make sure that we don’t lose those units, and create a brighter future for the low-income families, elderly, and disabled residents that call them home.