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SCAG Releases New Housing and Transportation Affordability Index
May 8, 2008 - 3:29 pm
The Housing and Transportation Affordability Index is a new tool that accounts for household transportation spending and home prices to estimate whether a home is truly affordable.
Housing affordability discussions typically exclude the cost of transportation.Developed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology in partnership with the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, the Index shows how affordability changes from neighborhood to neighborhood throughout Southern California and that the most affordable neighborhoods tend to be mixed use, compact in design, walkable, and near transit and jobs.
The Index study just completed for SCAG includes six community case studies: El Monte Transit Village, Platinum Triangle (Anaheim), Downtown Fullerton, Koreatown (Los Angeles), Downtown Glendale, and Downtown San Bernardino.
The case studies examine different local government approaches to a paradox associated with dispersed growth - it appears to make housing more affordable, but often cancels any significant savings with high transportation costs. The Affordability Index Toolbox synthesizes results from the case studies and recommends potential policy "tools" that local planners, elected officials and others can use to promote affordability in their Southern California communities.
