Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/04/2014

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Last revised July 24, 2014 Housing for a Growing, Thriving Region Our Twin Cities region, anchored by three great rivers and dotted by hundreds of lakes, has emerged as one of the nation's top metropolitan areas, a great place to live, work, and do business. Over the last 150 years, our region has grown and prospered, and is now well-known for its high quality of life, strong economy, and many assets that attract and retain residents. Today, the Twin Cities metropolitan area — the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Council —is a thriving region of nearly three million people living in 186 communities across the seven counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington. The region has emerged as a great place to live, work, and do business. The region offers residents a wide range of communities to call home —active downtowns, vibrant urban and suburban neighborhoods, healthy small towns, and protected rural areas. Housing here is more affordable than in comparable metropolitan areas. Nearly 80% of all homes sold in the region are affordable to households earning the median family income, more than in peer cities such as Atlanta, Denver, Houston, or Seattle.' When combining housing and transportation costs, the Twin Cities remains one of the most affordable of the nation's largest metropolitan areas.2 Compact, connected regions like ours offer residents economic mobility, lower combined costs of housing and transportation, and the opportunity for longer, safer, healthier lives. Sperling's BestPlaces has ranked the Twin Cities as "the most playful metro in America" for the health, happiness, and low stress of its residents. In survey after survey, residents have declared our metropolitan area better or much better than other regions around the country. The strengths that have made our region a success today will help us meet the challenges of tomorrow. This Housing Policy Plan will describe multiple strategies that advance the overall policy priority: Create housing options that give people in all life stages and of all economic means viable choices for safe, stable and affordable homes A range of housing options across the region benefits both individuals and families as well as local governments. Viable housing choices allow households to find housing affordable to them in the communities where they want to live and lets people stay in their neighborhood of choice as their economic or life circumstances change. Housing diversity increases local government resiliency through changing economic climates. Housing choices that include affordable options for lower income households can also improve the economic diversity of a local community, providing local governments with a broader and therefore more stable tax base. Local governments can protect their tax base and community vitality by diversifying their housing stock to include a mix of homeownership and rental opportunities across sizes and price points. Economic development, effective use of public dollars, improved property values and stable families and communities are just some of the benefits of providing the full range of housing choices in a community. National Association of Home Builders, Housing Affordability Index. 2 Location Affordability Index. 2040 HOUSING POLICY PLAN I METROPOLITAN COUNCIL DRAFT RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT Part I: Introduction I Page 1