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CREATIVE SOLUTIONS TO
THE HOUSING CRISIS HARD TIMES FOR ETHNIC ELDERS RENT CONTROL FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
BACKYARD COTTAGES IN DENSER NEIGHBORHOODS
$200 MILLION BOND FOR NEW BUILDING
CITIES FOLLOW S.F. MINIMUM WAGE HIKE
TRANSIT-FRIENDLY WEST SIDE CORRIDORS
CREDITS FOR COMPACT DEVELOPMENTS
NONPROFIT ARTIST LIVE-WORK LOFTS
WATER PUMPING AND EARTHQUAKES TINY PREFABRICATED PORTABLE HOMES
NANO APARTMENTS WITH SHARED SPACE
COOPERATIVE OWNERSHIP FOR TENANTS
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NINE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS TO SAN FRANCISCO’S HOUSING CRISIS About This Reporting Project: The San Francisco Public Press sought to shift the local dialogue about housing toward ideas that could address the crisis in affordability. Rather than dwelling on the abundant horror stories about rising rents, displacement and eviction, we pursued creative ideas from elsewhere, as well as from the city’s own history. Project editor: Noah Arroyo. Assistant editors: Liz Enochs and Josh Wilson. Reporting: Cori Brosnahan, Lyndal Cairns, Harry Gibbons, Emily Mibach, Robin Ngai, Justin Slaughter, Victor C. Valle, Evelyn Wang, Lisa Weinzimer, Josh Wolf, Paayal Zaveri. Photos: Tearsa Joy Hammock.
What Makes a Good Housing ‘Solution’? NEW: something not already in place or a new twist on an old idea CREATIVE: outside-the-box insights or mash-ups of current proposals EFFECTIVE: adds or preserves hundreds or thousands of affordable units FEASIBLE: conceivable in terms of cost, politics and legal constraints SIMPLE: easy to implement without a multitude of policy steps CONTEXTUAL: has precedent in other cities or in S.F.’s past DATA DRIVEN: backed up by research, prototypes and documentation
HOUSING SOLUTION #1
Update Local Rent Control Law To Prevent Mass Displacement
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HOUSING SOLUTION #2
Backyard Cottages Could Add One-Third More Homes to City
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San Francisco Housing by the Numbers $3,550 median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the S.F metro area in June 13.8 percentage increase in average rent for a two-bedroom apartment over one year 2
number of times faster that San Francisco rents increased vs. national average
48 percentage of average wages required to rent a two-bedroom apartment 1 million projected population in 2040, an increase of 21 percent 222,000 approximate number of rental apartments 171,000 number of apartments covered under rent-control law 170 percentage increase in Ellis Act evictions between 2010 and 2012 19 percentage of new housing needed for middle-income earners 10,000 homes Mayor Ed Lee plans to make affordable in six years SOURCES: 1-4: Trulia.com. 5: ABAG/MTC. 6: S.F. Planning Dept. 7: S.F. Rent Board - SPUR 8: S.F. Board of Supervisors. 9: ABAG/MTC. 10: S.F. Mayor’s Office.
HOUSING SOLUTION #3
Activate S.F. Ballot Box Again To Fund Affordable Housing
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HOUSING SOLUTION #4
Build Dorm-Style Nano Apartments for Newly Arriving Tech Workers
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HOUSING SOLUTION #5
Allow Off-the-Shelf Homes in San Francisco’s Underused Spaces
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HOUSING SOLUTION #6
Democratize the Housing Stock With Tenant Co-ops
HOUSING SOLUTION #7
Increase Density in Western Neighborhoods and Fix Transit
San Francisco Mayor Counts Existing Homes To Hit 10,000-Unit Affordable Housing Goal
HACK THE HOUS
The Public Press, Shareable and Craigconnects organized a conference at the Impact Hub SoMa in June to explore innovative solutions to the Bay Area’s lack of affordable housing. The sold-out forum, Hack the Housing Crisis, d low- and middle-class residents of San Francisco. By the end of the day, they had spitballe
Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender • Ophelia Basgal, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development • Kevin Casey, New Avenue Homes • Corey Cook, University of San Francisco • Kearstin Dischinger, S.F. Planning D Tim McCormick, Houslets • Betsy Morris, Cohousing California • Sammie Rayner, HandUp • AnMarie Rodgers, S.F. Planning Dep
Pitching Visions Of an Affordable San Francisco
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Hack the Housing Crisis was presented by the San Francisco Public Press and Shareable, sponsored by Craigconnects and hosted by Impact Hub SoMa. Lunch was sponsored by FeelGood, with additional food by Small Potatoes Catering, Split Pea Seduction, RUNA, and Equator Coffees & Teas.
Organizers: Lila LaHood, Michael Stoll, Mery Miguez, Yi Zhang, Kari Gray, Tanya Orellana, Rachel Brahinsky, Neal Gorenflo Volunteers: Kristen Skalin, Angela Hart, Andrea Carla Michaels, Maryann Hrichak, David Cohn, Camille Campbell, Phil Palmer
SING CRISIS
drew more than 140 people for workshops and presentations by experts in urban planning, tenant rights, transportation, construction, communal living and design. The goal was to find ways to maintain or increase housing for ed policy changes, eviction-crisis teams and community-based sharing among other ideas.
Department • Mark Hogan, architect • Andrew Hyder, Code for America • Peggy Jen, Bay Area LISC • Christine Johnson, S.F. Commission on Community Investment and Infrastructure • Fernando Martí, Council of Community Housing Organizations • partment • Taeko Takagi, ZETA Design + Build • Bruce Wolfe, S. F. Community Land Trust • Yi Zhang, VIA at Stanford University
WORKSHOP IDEAS: EVICTION RESPONSE, CO-OP CREATION
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In early 2014,
San Francisco and New York: Two Mayors’ Affordable Agendas INCLUSIONARY HOUSING mandates a percentage of new construction set aside for people with low and moderate incomes. Units are priced below market rate to encourage a mix of economic strata.
MIXED-INCOME HOUSING PROGRAMS juxtapose market-rate housing with set-asides for lower income brackets. Can be priced exclusively for low and moderate incomes.
NEW HOUSING PROJECTS on underused land.
RENT CONTROL limits the rate of rent increase of a house, apartment or other dwelling. But price ceilings in many cities exempt apartments built after their reforms.
NEW AND REFURBISHED PUBLIC HOUSING for low-income families by working with the city’s housing authority.
TAX INCENTIVES give developers tax credits or deductions to spur investment in affordable housing.
REFORM ZONING to reduce impediments to new housing and update building codes and the administrative process.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY RETROFITS reduce long-term operating costs and encourage affordable housing development.
De Blasio would subsidize new mixed-income developments targeting 20 percent of units to low-income households (50-80 percent of area median income, or AMI), 30 percent for moderateincome (81-120 percent of AMI), and 50 percent for middle-income (121-165 percent of AMI).
Identify vacant and inefficiently used sites where affordable housing and mixed-use developments can be built. The city would amass sites for one- to four-family homeownership clusters and buildings up to 20 rental units.
Work with housing groups to protect tenants from deregulation and rent hikes. De Blasio pushed the Rent Guidelines Board to freeze rents; the board instead voted in favor of a very low rent increase. The mayor plans to push to reform state law to allow more stringent rent regulation as soon as 2015.
Housing Authority and surrounding communities would preserve existing units and find developable land. Includes retail and community facilities to serve residents and others in the neighborhood.
Create and revise incentives for owners and nonprofit developers, targeting buildings at risk of rent deregulation or conversion to condominiums.
Re-examine building size constraints and restrictions on transferability of development rights. Reduce parking requirements to give encourage larger structures that include affordable housing.
Tie retrofits for small and midsize buildings to affordable housing creation. The city would work with utilities and existing subsidy programs to rein in high utility bills.
Nothing is planned.
Now under development: marketrate projects with an affordable housing component at Hunters Point Shipyard, Parkmerced, Visitacion Valley and Treasure Island.
Nothing new is planned. Existing rent control applies to buildings constructed through 1979. Condos and single-family homes where tenants moved in after January 1996 are exempt, so landlords are free to increase rents any amount.
HOPE SF would replace some public housing with mixed-income complexes. Under development: Hunters View, Sunnydale-Velasco, Westside Courts, Potrero Terrace and Annex, and Alice Griffith. Will create 5,000 public, affordable and market-rate homes.
Nothing is planned.
Streamline the permitting process in city departments. The Planning Commission will recommend a simplified and consolidated planning code on Sept. 4.
Nothing new is planned. Sustainable Financing Program of 2009 offers building owners money for energy efficiency, solar and renewable energy projects, and water conservation. Money is paid back to the city via property taxes over 20 years.
New York City Would require developers to set aside 20 percent of units as permanently affordable in all new developments. Rezoning would create mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhoods, so affordable housing sits beside market-rate apartments in pricier areas.
San Francisco Nothing new is planned. Current program requires developers with 10 or more units to pay into a city affordable housing fund, designate 12 percent of units on-site as affordable (15 percent in some areas) or build housing equivalent to 20 percent off-site.
HOUSING SOLUTION #8
Revisit the Much Maligned Live-Work Loft To Build Nonprofit Artist Housing
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HOUSING SOLUTION #9
Allow Denser Housing in Exchange for Affordable Units
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International Projects Prove That Affordable Housing Can Be Beautiful W
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