You saw the numbers, you heard the need for housing, so what can be done to move things forward? One effort now reflected in statewide initiatives, is supporting rural communities in becoming Housing Ready. What does it mean to become Housing Ready? Being Housing Ready means that a community has the policies, structure, partnerships, and planning tools in place to support the development of accessible, affordable, and appropriate housing for all residents. Communities must review and implement best practices for housing. Using resources like the Housing Ready Checklist and a Zoning Reform Toolkit, communities can evaluate and reform local zoning regulations. This involves assessing zoning laws and making necessary changes to support diverse housing. Implementing these tools helps remove barriers to housing development and ensures that zoning aligns with local housing needs. This does not mean developing apartment complexes everywhere, but rather identifying where more density makes sense and fits the community.
Best practices for housing include using the data from the latest Housing Needs Assessment to inform the local master or comprehensive plan, ensuring long-term support for varied and affordable housing options. A Housing Action Plan (HAP) can help identify the resources available to support housing projects and outline the processes needed to secure them. It can also provide a strategic framework to decide where to utilize the specific tools, sites, and opportunities for housing development. By planning strategically, communities can incentivize and guide developers by highlighting where growth should and shouldn’t happen.
Becoming Housing Ready also means adopting ordinances or policies that support housing tools and allow access to resources for housing projects. These can include policies for accessory dwelling units (ADUs), density increases, and other incentives that make housing development more viable for below market rate housing. A housing ready community has created opportunities and a process for both forprofit and nonprofit developers to build affordable housing. This can include a request for qualifications/proposal for developers or establishing clear opportunities and streamlined processes for-profit and nonprofit developers to support the housing needs identified in the most recent study. This is crucial for affordable housing development.
