Form-Based Codes: Too Many Strings Attached?

In an urban landscape of constant redevelopment projects that incorporate mixed-use areas that decrease the necessity for long-distance travel, transect zoning has risen to present a viable and popular alternative to traditional Euclidian zoning patterns that compartmentalize areas based on a single purpose (e.g. housing, office space, commercial activity). In its popular contemporary form, transect zoning is the realization of New Urbanist ideals, in which a city is divided into zones that naturally progress from dense cores to natural progression of urban development from more to less dense. The SmartCode, developed by Duany Plyter-Zybeck & Company in 2003, and all subsequent related transect zoning codes call for the list of features extolled by the Center for Applied Transect Studies such as walkable streets, mixed use, transportation options, and diversity of housing options, even in less dense zones.

Image Credit: Plan El Paso 

With such ambitious and attractive visions, it is easy to see why transect zoning has become the favored model for much of today's urban planning and land use regulation. However, Notre Dame law professor Nicole Stelle Garnett's recent article balances admiration of transect zoning's promises with skepticism of the costs and restrictions associated with these zoning patterns and their closely related form-based codes. Nicole Stelle Garnett, Redeeming Transect Zoning? 79 Brook. L. Rev. (2013). Officially, form-based codes are merely regulatory mechanisms that allow local governments to combat urban sprawl, reverse the deterioration of historic neighborhoods, and support transit-oriented development (all, in this blog's humble opinion, worthy objectives). But these form-based codes are often tied to a particular New Urbanist aesthetic in order to create visible indicators of various transect zones, reverse decades-old troubling development trends, and build consensus among residents of neighborhoods transformed by transect zoning. This imposition of a uniform architectural standard can incur high compliance costs, require the securing of expensive design services and building materials, and raises important policy concerns of legally implementing a particular urban aesthetic. Form-based codes also often include confusing planning jargon that Professor Garnett warns runs the risk of unconstitutional vagueness. See Anderson v. City of Issaquah, 851 P.2d 744 (Wash. Ct. App. 1993). Garnett suggests that municipalities implement mixed-use land environments without attaching the strings of New Urbanist design principles. While this "no strings attached" approach may encounter resistance from some urban planners, the proposed mixed-use land regulations provide a means for cities to achieve the desirable goals of smart growth, historic preservation, walkability, and diverse housing stock without imposing architectural uniformity and prohibitive compliance costs. 

Image Credit: Center for Applied Transect Studies 

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of May 22

Today we continue the weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Union Studio Architects 

In keeping with this week's Rhode Island theme, today we travel to the idyllic coastal setting of Tiverton, R.I., where green innovations, artistic energy, and New England-style community spirit are fueling a remarkable affordable housing endeavor. Sandywoods Farm, a 170-acre community that features 74 single-family homes, 50 of which will be affordable rental units, combines Rhode Island's agricultural past with an industrious future.

Winds of Change

Perhaps the most striking attribute of Sandywoods Farm is the progressive and sustainable force that drives it. A 250-KW wind turbine was recently constructed to provide 85 percent of the community's required energy and underscores Union Studio Architecture & Community Design's mission of creating an affordable development project that is "ecologically sensitive." Wind energy has expanded rapidly in the coastal communities of Rhode Island and Massachusetts in recent years, but Sandywoods Farm may be the first incorporation of a turbine in affordable housing. In addition to wind energy, many of the community's homes were built with

Image Credit: Union Studio 

sustainable materials like partially recycled fiberglass pre-finished siding, renewable bamboo flooring, high-efficiency heat pumps, and passive solar canopies.

An Artistic Touch 

Though a variety of people will undoubtedly take up residence in Sandywoods' 50 affordable rental units and 24 market-rate homes, the project's principals designed Sandywoods Farm with artists in mind. Many policymakers' hands have been wrung in the effort to provide affordable housing and work space for artists in today's increasingly creative-based economy and Sandywoods represents a meaningful effort to make these spaces attainable for working artists. Half the tenants chosen for Sandywoods' affordable rental units are working artists in Rhode Island, who provide an undeniable creative energy to the community and are planning to utilize many of the community's common spaces for artistic performance and installation aimed at the entire Tiverton community.

Blending New Urbanism and Old-Time Community

Image Credit: Union Studio 

The community's aesthetic incorporates many elements praised by the "New Urbanism" and the disciples of famous urban theorist Jane Jacobson. Sandywoods Farm features homes with broad front porches, walkable sidewalks and streets, community walking trails linked to Tiverton, and a community house ("Grange Hall") that encourage neighbor interaction and a strong sense of community. Implementation of New Urbanist principles works hand in hand with historical development patterns of the New England village, and the cozy cluster of Sandywoods' homes combines the community-oriented goals of the old and new.

Back to the Future of Farming 

Tiverton has long been an agrarian community and Sandywoods Farm seeks to continue this farming legacy well into the twenty-first century. The community is surrounded by agricultural land, boasts a "resident farmer" and Americorps volunteer who facilitates agricultural and arts education programs at the Grange Hall, and a community garden. The bounty from the community garden is shared with the local community beyond the edge of Sandywoods at community markets held at the Grange Hall.

An Immodest Proposal: Affordable Housing 'More Powerful than a Locomotive'

Image Credit: Providence Journal 

Bank of America's recent decision to vacate the iconic Industrial Trust Tower (better known as the "Superman" Building) has left the tallest building in Providence, R.I. empty. Immediately after the bank's departure, High Rock Development took ownership of the property and submitted a proposal to the State of Rhode Island and City of Providence requesting nearly $54 million in public funds for construction of luxury apartments in the building. This proposal has been met with resistance from Rhode Islanders who support the introduction of new businesses and affordable housing to downtown Providence. Affordable housing advocates note that Rhode Island, home of the nation's sixth-highest unemployment rate (9.1%), does not need more luxury housing that is out of reach of many Rhode Islanders. Recently, NPR conducted interviews with Providence residents waiting for the bus at downtown's Kennedy Plaza and suggestions for Rhode Island's tallest building's future included housing that met the needs of people of all incomes. NPR's Jacki Lyden notes the Industrial Trust Tower plays a pivotal physical and emotional presence in the Ocean State and her observation begs the question: why can't affordable housing be at the front and center of a city's skyline? Affordable housing developments are often implemented in neighborhoods far from downtown business cores and plans to incorporate so-called "low-income" housing in central locations are shuttered by investors and real estate developers. If state and local officials are going to    provide the Superman Building's owners with tens of millions of public dollars, then they should use their political posture to influence developers to put the building to a viable commercial and residential purpose for the common good. A mixed-income, mixed-use building that integrates new commercial space and a significant number of affordable units as well as market-rate options would contribute to Providence's decades-long rebirth as a regional economic and artistic hub and improve access to housing and commercial opportunities in a state recovering from economic woes.

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of May 15 (Pocket Full of Affordability)

Today we continue the weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Univ. of Arkansas CDC

Sometimes, even in the world of affordable housing, smaller is better. Earlier this year, the American Institute of Architects agreed and bestowed a 2013 Honor Award for Regional & Urban Design upon the Downtown Little Rock Community Development Corporation and University of Arkansas Design Center for their Rock Street Pocket Housing Project. The project, which consists of units clustered to comprise a "pocket neighborhood"- a small-scale, mid-density neighborhood centered around a landscaped common green space- is providing a much-needed revitalization to the Little Rock's Pettaway Park. The AIA noted that the Rock Street Pocket Housing was notable for providing what planners call the "missing middle" in affordable housing options that is rare in 21st century development. This "missing middle" refers to housing built "between the scales of the single-family house and mid-rise flats...idea for leveraging quality in an affordable housing setting." Rock Street's attractive, gabled bungalow court blends with the architectural heritage of Pettaway Park, an inner-core neighborhood developed mainly between the 1920s and 1940s- while incorporating principles of sustainability, transit-oriented planning, and design innovation that are poised to set the future standard for affordable housing development.

Pocket Full of Green Thinking 

The Rock Street Pocket Housing project arrives at practical solutions through simple but elegant green methods. In response to the neighborhood's chronic flooding concerns from the nearby Arkansas River, the project includes a natural, low impact filtration system that utilizes "rain gardens" and filter strips to stem flooding. The project also features lamination trenches, bioswales, and permeable weirs to slow the rate of flow and, remove silt and pollution from surface runoff, and absorb moisture to enrich the soil and increase vegetation.

Pocket Full of Transit

Located less than one mile from Downtown Little Rock, the Rock Street Pocket Housing also has tremendous transit potential, particularly in a city such as Little Rock that is not known as a public transit model. The project could be a shining example of how residents can reduce their driving dependency and carbon emissions, as Rock Street Pocket Housing is a short walk to a variety of businesses and commercial offerings in the downtown core, schools, parks, and health clinics. Additionally, three of the major bus routes connect the neighborhood to most of Greater Little Rock. 

Pocket Full of Community

The defining attribute of the Rock Street Pocket House project is its central common green spaces and communal pooling of resources to manage storm water infrastructure and maintain the shared lawns, driveways, and community playground. The communal nature, in addition to keeping costs down and enhancing the affordability of the neighborhood's units, encourages stewardship and shared community identity among residents. The occupants of Rock Street's affordable units become grass-roots stakeholders in the preservation and success of the project's mission and the continuation of transit-oriented affordable housing in Little Rock.

For more information and pictures about the pocket neighborhood in Little Rock's Pettaway Park, visit the University of Arkansas' Community Design Center site. 

Credit must be given to NRDC Sustainable Communities Director Professor Kaid Benfield's article, which first alerted me to the pocket house developments in Little Rock and the AIA awards. 

Granting New Life to Distressed Properties

Image Credit: Fall River/New Bedford Housing Partnership

Last year's much-publicized $26 billion foreclosure settlement with leading lenders is translating into new opportunities for the glut of distressed and vacant bank-owned properties in communities across the country. In Massachusetts, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced her office's Distressed Properties Identification and Revitalization grant (DPIR), which will allocate $1 million to aid cities and towns across the Commonwealth in their efforts to restore vacant properties to full use. The project, which is the result of collaboration between the AG's office and Massachusetts' Registers of Deeds, encourage partnerships among communities that receive DPIR grants and is especially targeted at "Gateway Cities" that bore the brunt of the foreclosure crisis and consequently have the state's highest rates of distressed and vacant properties. Some of the Gateway Cities, such as Fall River and New Bedford, are being encouraged to submit joint applications. According to the AG's office, the deadline to apply for a grant is June 13. This blog will feature more stories about similar grant programs implemented in other states utilizing the funds from the multi-state foreclosure practices settlement.

The Ambivalent Response to "Self-Sufficiency Strategies"

It's no secret that public housing waiting lists in both large and small cities across the country are staggeringly long. In cities like Washington, D.C., waiting lists can stretch to up to a decade and, in recent years, tens of thousands of people have lined up outside public housing authority (PHA) offices in places like East Point, Ga. just to apply for newly available units and vouchers. In order to address concerns and frustrations of those residents on the waiting lists and to ease the pressure placed on PHAs, some housing authorities are adopting controversial practices regarding how available public housing slots are filled. These practices, often called "self-sufficiency strategies", have existed in a limited number of municipalities through federal approval since HUD's 1996 "Moving to Work" demonstration project and include incentives for public housing applicants to enroll in school or attain job placement and stricter time limits on a person's eligibility for vouchers or public housing.

Image Credit: Chicago Housing Authority 

Jennifer Levitz of the Wall Street Journal reports that as many as 39 PHAs have already set these restrictions. In Tacoma, Wash., residents are only eligible for rental vouchers and public housing for five years, a term modeled after the limits placed on TANF welfare benefits recipients in the 1990s (San Mateo, Calif. and San Antonio, Tx. are also planning to implement similar time limits in the coming months). Alternatively, PHAs have established incentives for applicants to become employed, engage in community service, or enroll in school full-time in order to be prioritized on the waiting list. The Tacoma pilot program that introduced voucher and housing eligibility term limits also includes rental-support vouchers for residents who take active roles in their children's schools. In Worcester, Mass., the Worcester Housing Authority received federal clearance to add employment and full-time schooling requirements to federally-run public housing in the city and hopes to adopt similar practices on all PHA-run properties in the future. Larger cities like Houston and Milwaukee that face even more daunting waiting lists are also seeking such approval.

Crowd queuing to apply for vouchers in East Point, Ga. (2010)
Image Credit: Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

Proponents of these conditions, which have received broad support from the Obama Administration, maintain that they are aimed at promoting residents' economic independence and more efficiently opening up the finite supply of public housing and available rental vouchers to clogged waiting lists and increased demand. However, opponents have expressed concerns that incentives prevent those most in need of housing placement and vouchers- those who cannot afford to enroll in school full-time or are not able to find the employment necessary to qualify for a waiting list boost- from being able to receive housing assistance. Additionally, Linda Couch, Senior VP for Policy and Research at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, notes that the imposition of time limits on housing and voucher eligibility would terminate families' housing assistance prematurely and create a cycle where terminated families would be forced back onto the waiting list for more assistance. In her statement to the WSJ, Ms. Couch summed up the counterargument to self-sufficiency strategies, saying "The answer is more affordable housing; it's not moving the deck chairs on the Titanic."

And so, dear reader, I throw the question to you. Do you think the rise of housing eligibility time limits and waiting list incentives encourage self-sufficiency and are a viable method to address the difficult supply-and-demand problems faced by PHAs? Do you believe that these strategies promote anything but self-sufficiency and are restrictive to the point of creating a cycle of dependency, disenfranchise those who display the greatest need for housing assistance, and ignore the pressing need for more affordable housing in the U.S.? As always, I welcome your comments and can't wait to hear from you!

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of May 8

Today we continue our weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Norris Design 

The object of today's Breaking the Fourth Wall affection is the Mariposa project in Denver's La Alma/Lincoln Park district. Mariposa has received high praise in recent months- notably from Professor Kaid Benfield in his article for The Atlantic Cities and on the NRDC's excellent Switchboard blog- and for good reason. The project, owned and managed by the Denver Housing Authority (DHA), is a mixed-income redevelopment effort that is unlike many other mixed-income initiatives in that it expresses a true commitment to maintaining the 270 public housing units while infusing the neighborhood with new services, commercial opportunities, and transit options. Mariposa checks every box in affordable housing innovation- it is a green community, a sterling example of transit-oriented development, and has flourished through consultation and collaboration with current low-income residents.

Energy Efficiency 

Image Credit: Mithūn 

Mariposa, like many other developments in Denver, is committed to creating a community that thrives on being green. Last year, the Mariposa completed the first phase of the middle-income and market-rate homes being added to the preserved affordable housing units, which included 100 LEED-Platinum apartments. These energy-efficient new homes are aimed at reducing pollution, controlling stormwater runoff, and curbing inefficient wastes in Mariposa. The project's master plan also includes a "green streets" initiative with lush tree plantings, broad sidewalks, and street patterns that promote walking and community engagement.

Transit Oriented Development

Mariposa's plan also encourages connection to public transit, with a promenade for direct light rail access. The plan's forthcoming phases also include efforts to create a stronger transit node at the neighborhood's 10th and Osage Station and increase residents' connectivity to the Santa Fe Arts District and many of Denver's cultural offerings. The transit orientation of Mariposa also presents residents greater access to access employment opportunities, high-quality healthcare, and the downtown core. On a note that combines transit accessibility and green living, the neighborhood will also be linked to the Cherry Creek and Platte River bike trails.

Community Partnerships

Perhaps Mariposa's most refreshing feature is the effort taken by the DHA to coordinate their redevelopment plans with the current residents of La Alma/Lincoln Park. In order to alleviate some of the pressures faced by low-income residents faced with the arrival of gentrifiers, the DHA undertook a process of identifying the highest priority issues of neighborhood residents, created a Resident Transition Plan focused on preventing the displacement and dissatisfaction of residents, and held a series of public meeting where community input was solicited, encouraged, and integrated into the planning process and final plan. Results of these public meetings and
cooperation with community organizations include plans for opening a health clinic in the neighborhood as well as expanding of ESL/GED classes, and childcare resources. 

The much-feted Mariposa community looks to be a model for sustainable, attractive, transit-oriented, and community-based development for residents of all incomes. It preserves affordable housing and community identity while introducing a host of new services and amenities to a culturally diverse Denver neighborhood and could serve as an example for affordable housing development in other cities undergoing rapid change and redevelopment. 

The National Mortgage Settlement: Abuses to be Revisited and Re-litigated?

Wall of foreclosure notices in Mich. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

One year after helping to negotiate the landmark $25 billion settlement for struggling homeowners affected by the illegal foreclosure practices of five major lenders, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced plans to sue Bank of America and Wells Fargo for failure to comply with terms of the agreement. In recent months, Schneiderman's office has compiled more than 300 allegations of these institutions' violations of key settlement provisions, including failure to process homeowner requests for lower loan payments in a timely manner and refusing to allow homeowners to submit missing documents to stave off foreclosure. The settlement, which was a response from prosecutors in a variety of states to fraudulent mortgage investments by lenders, included the possibility of future litigation if banks did not comply. AG Schneiderman sent a letter to Joe Smith, head of the committee that was assigned to monitor the National Mortgage Settlement, in which he stated his plans to sue the lenders if the banks' practices are not addressed and fixed at the committee's urging. While it is not currently clear if other prosecutors will join Schneiderman, state prosecutors in California and Iowa worked with the New York Attorney General on the initial settlement and may also file suit in response to allegations received by their states' consumer protection divisions. More information about the lenders' broader compliance with the National Mortgage Settlement when the oversight committee releases its independent report about the status and effects of the settlement next month.

Net-Zero Energy Development is Positive for Affordable Housing

Image Credit: Joe Mahoney, Richmond Times-Dispatch

The trend of constructing zero-energy buildings that consume a net zero amount of energy and annual carbon emissions has supplemented the robust green building movement but has also been criticized as unaffordable and improbable to implement on a wide scale. Even reasonably priced recent developments in Frederick, Md. and Traverse City, Mich. are out of reach for many renters who qualify for affordable housing units. However, the increase of green tax incentives and ZEB (zero-energy building) subsidies offered to housing authorities and developers by state and local governments has finally led to the application of net zero-energy initiatives to affordable housing. In recent months, projects like the Beckstoffer's Mill apartments in Richmond, Va., which offer units that are priced below market rate and are targeted at low-income and elderly populations, have opened to great fanfare from residents, community organizations, and sustainability advocates for their reduced dependency on electrical grids. In addition to tangible environmental benefits, this reduced energy consumption translates into substantial utilities savings for low-income renters and works to address the disparity between housing prices and incomes in many of America's neighborhoods. Though presenting additional initial costs, the principles of zero-energy construction dovetail nicely with many of the policies and attempts to find long-term solutions underlying affordable housing development at large. The savings realized from reduced energy costs, both by municipalities and development residents, means more available funds for a variety of other public works programs and additional money for residents to allocate to other costs, such as transportation and food, that are often closely linked with housing expenses. Zero-energy developments are "green" in every sense of the word and point to the future of affordable housing policies that will build upon decades of innovative approaches to solving tensions within communities by incorporating the promise of energy innovation into the very materials that comprise new and refitted affordable units. It may be getting a little easier to be green after all.

Obama's Newest Nominees and Affordable Housing

As he passed the 100-day threshold of his second term in the White House, President Obama announced the nominations of two North Carolina politicians for cabinet and senior-level positions that could have direct and indirect effects on affordable housing. On Monday, the President announced his nomination of Charlotte, N.C. Mayor Anthony Foxx to replace Ray LaHood as Secretary of Transportation and, on Wednesday, followed up by tapping Congressman Mel Watt (D-NC) to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. 

Image Credit: U.S. House of Reps.

The nomination of Watt, an 11-tem member of Congress, longtime member of the House Financial Services Committee, and former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, presents more direct opportunities for affordable housing because of his history as a consumer advocate and past stances favoring the reduction of principals on government-backed mortgages to help defaulting homeowners avoid foreclosure and increase access to affordable housing. However, Richard Michael Price of Nixon Peabody's Affordable Housing practice notes that Watt's liberal political stances and views on the housing recovery could pose impediments to his confirmation by Senate Republicans, particular Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Mike Crapo (R-ID). 

Image Credit: Urban Land Institute

While seemingly more attenuated to affordable housing, Foxx's nomination and possible confirmation could indeed be a positive sign for housing initiatives. Mayor Foxx has implemented a variety of progressive transportation policies in Charlotte, including bike-to-work campaigns, a light rail system, and airlink, and has expressed support for transit oriented development (TOD). Such TOD advocacy could result in further coordination between the DOT and HUD and incentives for developers and urban planners to construct affordable housing units that are close to public transit and provide residents with easy access to employment, educational, and vibrant commercial opportunities. 

Designing the Nuts and Bolts of Accessible Housing

Image Credit: ADA 

This past week, the Department of Justice and HUD released a joint statement summarizing the new accessibility guidelines for compliance with the Fair Housing Act. The Act's accessibility guidelines affect multifamily dwellings with four or more dwelling units that were constructed for first occupancy after March 13, 1991. See 42 U.S.C. §3604(f)(3). The Fair Housing Act guidelines, distinct from the similar Americans with Disabilities Act criteria, are aimed at providing easily accessible rental housing to Americans of all physical abilities and curbing ability-based housing discrimination. The current joint statement provides clarity for developers, designers, and managers of these dwellings and encourages compliance with the Act's disability provisions. At its core the HUD and DOJ guidelines articulate the seven requirements of (1) an accessible building entrance on an accessible route; (2) accessible and usable public common areas; (3) usable doors; (4) accesible into and through the covered dwelling unit; (5) light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls in accessible locations; (6) reinforced walls for grab bars; and (7) usable kitchens and bathrooms. The core requirements, which apply differently to various buildings based upon features such as elevators and garages, focus on accessibility and usability of housing units and common areas and are supplemented by instructions relating to additions, alterations, and renovations of buildings covered by the Act. The statement offers a relatively succinct wealth of information about compliance with Fair Housing accessibility regulations and also provides more resources about the specific regulations concerning design and construction practices that are consistent with fair housing policies.

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of May 1

"Breaking the Fourth Wall" is our weekly series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovate or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Design Philadelphia 

Today we highlight a Philadelphia micro-house initiative that promises to combine the elusive goals of substantiality, affordability, and bold design. The New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) has already undertaken a Neighborhood Stabilization Program throughout the Kensington, Fishtown, and Port Richmond neighborhoods and plans to turn the area's proliferation of vacant lots into an opportunity for affordable housing that prizes efficiency and cost effectiveness. The "weeHouse" proposal involves placing affordable, attractive, and environmentally-friendly modular homes whose "stick built construction are efficient in quantity" on these empty parcels in an attempt to make more affordable housing available in Philadelphia. Unlike many other proposals, weeHouse grew in part out of challenges posed to architects to expand the scope of modular home design to include stylish and green construction while making good use of vacant urban land and meeting government affordable housing objectives. The plans for the modular homes, still in the theoretical phase, run contrary to the notions that affordable housing must be unattractive and unwieldy- in contrast, they are beautifully conceptualized by teams at Alchemy Architects, leave a green footprint, and can be constructed for an estimated 20% less than comparable projects, plus reduced financing and long-term energy costs. While the plans to build clusters of these affordable are not yet funded, their potential application in vacant lots throughout Philadelphia, innovative design features, cost saving possibilities, and NKCD's impressive track record of forming successful partnerships with public and private organizations including the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, design and architecture firms, and affordable housing development agencies like Diamond & Associates suggest a big future for these small and inventive affordable dwellings.