Gainesville in National news - A college town takes on exclusionary zoning

It is always difficult to have government declaring labor needs into the future instead of markets, especially when many of the professions are themselves paid by the same government. And "the community" in this case would essentially need to be some sort of government body.

 

Would like to have known Gatorknight's thoughts on this. In addition to being a real estate guru, he was a Hogtown local. Personally, I'm trying to sell a townhome out off of Tower Rd and the initial contract with my renter fell through. I'll have to wait until the rental contract is up Aug 31 to get in there, make necessary renovations, and put it on the market. I hope this does not compromise my property value. It's been a long road back to viability. Would hate to see it drop again.

 

It is one way to help offset the high cost of housing that makes it hard to recruit employees needed for the community to function. You can also provide tax incentives for businesses to develop housing for employees that are within certain income brackets. The companies wouldn't have to make a profit off the housing if given tax incentives and it would help the company recruit employees.

 

That isn't unsaid. They are literally saying it. They are saying that housing has become unaffordable and that there needs to be a decrease in housing prices. Housing prices have increased at a far faster rate than incomes or other products. There is a generational issue here, where younger people are far less likely to own a house than prior generations. A lot of reasons for it, but the thought is that cities might want a younger, more stable population base.

 

I'm very iffy about company housing. It leads to all sorts of inefficiencies and terrible incentives. It is like company healthcare on steroids. I know some companies that do it, but if it were me, I'd rather have a housing allowance than that, even if I were to move to a very expensive place.

 

Moving forward with a bad plan because it’s the only one you have never turns out well. I’ve got a few scars on my back to attest to this. I learned to wait until you have a good plan.

 

That's the key. Lets hope it is.

 

What the heck is affordable housing nowadays, something rent controlled?

 

Given what land and construction costs are today, the development of "affordable housing" solely by the private sector in reasonable proximity to a city center of any size is virtually impossible. There need to be significant incentives and subsidies available or else the returns make no sense for the risk of construction (skyrocketing costs, personal repayment and completion guarantees, spiking interest rates, etc).

We would all agree that the US has a serious affordable housing crises from coast to coast, but solving it is far harder than saying it.

Just look at the Beltline in Atlanta for a great example. Proximate to blue, grey and white collar jobs and accessible to mass transit, the perfect location for some affordable housing, yet the city screwed the whole thing up by not putting in an affordable housing plan in place up front, and what resulted was a private sector land grab that generated among the highest apartment (and office) rental rates in the entire metro area. Now the city is fighting uphill to figure out a way to create some affordable housing after the cat is well out of the bag and land costs have further skyrocketed. It's the blueprint for how not to do it (and I'm a real estate developer).

 

Noting to disagree with here, but it's necessary in finding a sufficient work force in seasonal industries like skiing in areas like Aspen and Vail where rents are as high as the surrounding mountains.

The school board here in Mesa County, Colorado is considering subsidizing housing in an effort to attract and retain teachers.

 

I can see housing or housing allowances being needed to retain teachers.

 

I can definitely see it in the case of seasonal workers, since landlords often want a full year. That does make a lot of sense in some very specific circumstances.

 

Hmm from the folks that brought you biomass

 

Fool me once shame on you,
Fool me twice shame on me

 

I don't live in Gainsville but the question in my mind is who are they trying to attract with these laws? Families of four, newly weds, live in or singles for a work force based on the local economy? Each comes with its requirements. What is the end goal?

 

I don't really get how this is supposed to work. Take a neighborhood that's zoned single family - I assume with all the lots developed - and allow developers to tear down a few and put up multifamily housing, whether duplexes, triplexes or larger ....
And those new multifamily need to be affordable to those in the bottom 50 percent.
That's doesn't seem economically feasible in nicer neighborhoods where the price of land would be higher.
So what does that leave, going into poorer neighborhoods and increasing the density there?

I must be missing something?

 

Supply and demand. How do you deal with increased demand driving prices up?

 

This reeks of the “we have to do something” without a true plan or any idea of the consequences of that something. Hi grown would be far better served to take the time and money needed to make a comprehensive city development plan that accounts for not just the Joe but for the future growth as well.

 

every local government has to have a comprehensive plan on file with the state of florida that is set up to define the development within their boundaries and how it is expected to be managed. here is the one for Gainesville, your area has one too. It is the big picture land use plan, zoning narrows this down smaller. Any changes or alterations to this plan have to be submitted to the state for review

you can find the current and the proposed comp plans at this link

Comprehensive Planning Welcome to the City of Gainesville (gainesvillefl.gov)

 

usually based on income levels and defined in each area based on median income for the area. I have seen affordable housing and workforce housing categories that use different values. ie, a affordable unit may cost between 20 - 30% (?) of the income of a person making 60 - 100% of the median income for the area and workforce may be based on 80 - 120% of median income.