Objective HH.3 Decrease concentrated poverty

Indicators, Development Targets and Policies/Design Strategies

Indicators Development Targets Policies/Design Strategies
Primary
a. Multi-group diversity index Benchmark: Are inclusionary/below market rate housing units built on-site?
  • Use tax increment financing (TIF) to capture a portion of the increased land value from the conversion of commercial land to residential and from increased height limits, to be used for increased affordable housing.1
  • Require incremental increases in affordable units with incremental increases in heights.2
  • Require that market-rate housing projects provide below market rate (BMR) units at a range of affordability levels between 60% and 80% of SF median income.3,4
  • Require below market rate units to come in a mix of sizes/number of bedrooms to address the need for affordable housing for different household types (e.g., at least 25% of below market rate (BMR) units have 2-bedroom and at least 25% have 3 or more bedrooms).5,6
  • Provide incentives for development of rental property. Examples include tax credits, bond financing, deferral or forgiveness of real estate taxes, water charges, and other public debts owed on rental properties, construction financing, technical assistance, etc.7,8
  • Implement policies for families to afford down payment, transaction, and closing costs.9
  • Create affordable mortgage financing instruments that are easily accessible.10
  • Encourage more landlords to get their property Section 8 certified through incentives such as assistance with the approval process and tenant search.11
  • Consider legislation that prohibits landlords from refusing prospective tenants solely because they are part of the Section 8 program.12
  • Amend the inclusionary housing ordinance to require that affordable housing developed off-site to be at a closer distance or in the same neighborhood as the primary development. Inclusionary zoning requires that a given share of new construction be affordable to people with low to moderate incomes.13
  • Amend the inclusionary housing ordinance to require a percentage of units to be low- or very-low income accessible. Inclusionary zoning requires that a given share of new construction be affordable to people with low to moderate incomes.14
  • Create incentives for building affordable housing in middle and upper income neighborhoods.15
  • Revise inclusionary housing policies to incentivize onsite BMR construction. Only permit developers to pay in-lieu fees, instead of constructing the inclusionary units off-site. Or only allow under a narrow set of circumstances.16
  • Include strategies in the Housing Element to build affordable/assisted housing opportunities in middle- and upper-income neighborhoods (away from existing high poverty areas) to encourage economic/class integration.17
  • Create and increase accessibility of affordable mortgage financing instruments and increase access to them.18
b. Median per-capita income

Same as above.
c. Median household income

Same as above.
d. Proportion living below the poverty level

Same as above.

Health-based Rationale

  • Segregated neighborhoods have fewer institutional assets (schools, libraries, public transit).19
  • Living in a racially segregated neighborhood puts an individual at higher risk for transmission of infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis.20
  • African-American men living in areas with the highest segregation had almost three times the mortality risk as those living in areas of low segregation.21
  • Segregated low-income neighborhoods also host unwanted land uses such as power plants, solid and hazardous waste sites, and bus yards.22
  • A study showed that reducing income-related residential segregation improved household safety, reduced exposure to crime, and decreased neighborhood social disorder.23

  • In the epidemiological literature, neighborhood deprivation is commonly measured by a combination of neighborhood unemployment, income, education, and social class. Numerous large-scale studies have found that neighborhood deprivation is associated with increased risk of physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, smoking and obesity. Additionally, increased neighborhood deprivation significantly predicts poor self-reported health, cardiovascular disease and death. The fact that these relationships are still significant regardless of individual attributes suggests that the neighborhood context influences both individual health behaviors and health outcomes.24

1. City of SF, Public Benefits Zoning. http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/planning/communityplanning/pdf/DRAFT%20PBZ%20issue%20sheet-%2009-30.pdf
2. SPUR. http://www.spur.org/publications/library/report/Abs_affordablebydesign_112107
3. San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing. Below Market Rate Inclusionary Housing Program. http://www.sfgov.org/site/moh_page.asp?id=48003
4. San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing. Below Market Rate Inclusionary Housing Program. http://www.sfgov.org/site/moh_page.asp?id=48003
5. Laws Affecting the Location and Approval of Affordable Housing. http://www.pilpca.org/www/docs/CASCManual-Title.pdf
6. Manufacturing a New Kind of Affordable Housing: Seattle's Noji Gardens. http://www.knowledgeplex.org/kp/text_document_summary/article/relfiles/fmf_0510_noji_gardens.pdf
7. PolicyLink. http://www.policylink.org/site/c.lkIXLbMNJrE/b.5137215/k.14C2/Affordable_Housing_Development.htm
8. District of Columbia Housing and Development Incentives. http://dcbiz.dc.gov/dmped/cwp/view,a,1365,q,569285.asp
9. San Francisco Down Payment Assistance Loan Program (DALP). http://www.sfgov.org/site/moh_page.asp?id=48041
10. HUD: Housing and Mortgage Finance Agencies. http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/ih/homeownership/184/agencies.cfm
11. HUD, Section 8 Information for Landlords. http://www.hud.gov/groups/landlords.cfm
12. National Housing Law Project: Section 8 Housing. http://www.nhlp.org/html/sec8/source_of_income_3.htm
13. San Francisco Below Market Rate Inclusionary Housing Program and Ordinance. http://www.sfgov.org/site/moh_page.asp?id=48003 & http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/moh/programs/FirstTimeBuyer/Ordinance%20101-07%20-%20passed%204.17.07.pdf
14. Urban Habitat: REDI's Policy Recommendations and Implementation Measures for Richmond's General Plan Update. http://urbanhabitat.org/files/REDI-Recommends-Implementation-2007-12-20-Exec-Summ.pdf
15. Urban Institute. Low-Income Families Are Moving to Better Neighborhoods with Help from Chicago's Housing Mobility Program. http://www.urban.org/publications/900789.html
16. Urban Habitat: REDI's Policy Recommendations and Implementation Measures for Richmond's General Plan Update. http://urbanhabitat.org/files/REDI-Recommends-Implementation-2007-12-20-Exec-Summ.pdf
17. Urban Institute. Low-Income Families Are Moving to Better Neighborhoods with Help from Chicago's Housing Mobility Program. http://www.urban.org/publications/900789.html
18. SF Mayor's Office on Housing: Loan Assistance Programs. http://www.sfgov.org/site/moh_index.asp?id=47989
19. Kawachi I, Berkman L. 2003. Neighborhoods and Health. New York: Oxford University Press.
20. Acevedo-Garcia D. 2000. Residential segregation and the epidemiology of infectious diseases. Social Science and Medicine 51:1143-1161.
21. Jackson SA, Anderson RT. 2000. The relation of residential segregation to all-cause mortality: A study in black and white. American Journal of Public Health 90(4):615-617.
22. Maantay J. 2001. Zoning, equity, and public health. Am J of Pub Health 91:1033-1041.
23. Anderson LM, St Charles J, Fullilove MT. Scrimshaw SC, Fielding JE, Normand J. 2003. Providing affordable family housing and reducing residential segregation by income: A systematic review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 24(3S):47-67.
24. Riva M, Gauvin L, Barnett TA. Toward the next generation of research into small area effects on health: a synthesis of multilevel investigations published since July 1998. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007;61(10):853-861.