The Role of a Planner in Addressing the Affordable Housing Crisis

We can work with communities to embed affordability within guiding plans and policy documents. Affordability is a key component of a healthy, complete community.

We can conduct research and analysis on behalf of communities to clearly identify housing and homelessness needs and gaps.

We can engage with communities to uncover specific housing needs and work with technical experts to design innovative housing models.

We can facilitate meaningful discussions across sectors to help break down silos. All sectors are impacted by the current housing and homelessness crisis. We need to leverage cross-sectoral partnerships and technical expertise. No one sector can solve these issues alone, but planners are uniquely situated to balance between sectors, bringing ideas and people together to create pathways for affordable housing development.

We can provide planning and development services to the non-profit sector.

We can work with communities to identify underutilized lands, prepare these lands for development, and incentivize affordable housing development on these sites.

We can recommend that communities reduce regulatory barriers to affordable housing development. This could include providing for higher densities in most zoning districts and increasing as-of-right multi-family housing.

We can recommend that municipalities reduce parking requirements for affordable housing projects.

We can assist communities and non-profit organizations to navigate the complex world of affordable housing funding streams.

Finally, we need to focus on the solutions, not the challenges. It’s all too easy to become overwhelmed by wicked problems like the lack of affordable housing and homelessness. But as planners, we need to shift the narrative and focus on tangible solutions, like those listed above, and eventually these solutions will result in new affordable homes in our communities.