Agenda - Council - 06/28/2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

A range of housing options across the region benefits individuals, families, and local governments. Viable housing choices allow households to find housing affordable to them in the communities where they want to live. Housing choices let people stay in or move to their preferred neighborhood as their economic or life circumstances change. Like a diversified portfolio, a diversity of housing types can increase local government resiliency through changing economic climates. Housing choices that include a mix of homeownership and rental opportunities across sizes and price points can improve the economic diversity of local community, providing local governments with a broader and therefore more stable tax base. Providing the full range of housing choices in a community offers many benefits, such as economic development, effective use of public dollars, improved property values, and stable families and communities. Housing is a critical part of health for residents across the region. Recent research has found that social and economic factors, health behaviors, and the physical environment together determine as much as 80% of health outcomes (genes, biology, and clinical care determine the remaining 20Y6).» Safe, utab|e, and affordable housing contributes 1othese health determinants by improving educational outcomes, allowing households to direct their budgets to other critical needs, minimizing exposure to environmental toxins, and encouraging residents to lead more active lives. Housing affordable to low- and moderate -income households, including workforce housing, is a strong community asset. Safe, decent, and affordable housing often requires public subsidy t0fill finance gaps and allow both nonprofit and for -profit housing developers 10 earn a competitive return on investment. However, the alternative— not enough housing to stabilize households —can require significantly higher public costs in terms of health care, education, and law enforcement. Spending public money to ensure that affordable housing is available across the region will stabilize households, create opportunities to generate wealth, and build healthy communities. Demographic trends: Continued 0Q0U|8t'Q0 and hoUSi0{] growth through 2040 More people.Over the next 3Oyears, our region is projected to grow by 783,000 residents, 8 gain 0f27Y6 from 2010. More births than deaths and longer life expectancies will account for three- quarters of this population growth. People moving here from other parts of the nation and world —attracted byour region'o economicopportunitieo—vvi||accountfor the remaining one -quarter 0fthis growth. (For more information, see the Metropolitan C0unci|'SMetrDGtat8:Steady growth and big changes ahead: The Regional Forecast to 2040.) ONE� Housing for a Growing, 7hrivinqgegion Figure 2: Twin Cities Population (in millions ) 1.9 4.4 t-.6 Source- US, CenauaBureau MeonpolitanCounci/