Recap from June 10 Meeting: Urban Living & Development Housing SWOT Analysis

Following are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats identified by the group at its June 10 meeting. The topic of the June 10 meeting was simply the Urban Living & Development component of the housing picture facing the community, so these points were made in that context only. We had only begun to identify preliminary action items to carry over for further discussion into what ultimately will serve as recommendations from the group for inclusion in the city's final strategic plan. That process will continue for the first part of our next meeting (scheduled for June 24). That meeting will then begin the process of conducting a SWOT analysis on the topic of affordable housing / housing affordability, with plans to conclude those discussions and recommendations at the group's July 8 meeting. Much will depend on our progress between now and then, so please remain flexible as we work toward efficient and productive conclusion of our work.

If you are a member of the Housing Committee, please use the comments field of this post to provide any input or hold online discussions of any of the identified issues.

Strengths

ü      Affordability

ü      Built environment, infrastructure, connectivity

ü      Diversity of housing types, styles, price ranges, etc.

ü      Proximity to cultural amenities

ü      Safe communities

ü      UNA & strong neighborhood associations

ü      Character of older housing stock

ü      Walkable neighborhoods

Weaknesses

ü      Lack of investment in maintenance & improvements

ü      Existing thoroughfares lack sidewalks & bike lanes

ü      Higher risk for infill development (price comps, etc)

ü      Lack of flexibility in regulation & planning, etc

ü      Renter & landlord education opportunities miss the most problematic renters & landlords

ü      Historically high number of foreclosures

ü      Again housing stock

ü      Inefficient to increase efficiency

ü      Garage capacity

Opportunities

ü      Potential domino effect with improvements

ü      Greatest opportunity for sustainability gains

·         Core services

·         Infrastructure

·         Energy consumption (improvements)

ü      Targeted neighborhoods specific revitalization plans

Threats

ü      Absentee owners

ü      Below average percentage of homeownership

ü      Property damage/abuse in many rentals (landlords & tenants)

ü      Strategic defaults

ü      Foreclosures & short sales

PRELIMINARY Action Items (Discussion begun, but to continue June 24)

•  Seek and expand incentives for efficiency improvements of the highest-consumption existing homes (State-Local Legislative Priority, etc)
•     Establish a voluntary scoring system for rental housing

·         Safety components

·         “Angie’s List” or equivalent

·         Utility history, etc.

Parked Items (held for discussion at a future meeting)

ü      Civic engagement (neighborhood meetings, etc)

ü      Sustainability/efficiency

ü      Affordable options for low income