Atlanta Regional Housing Forum - September 1, 2010 

OVERVIEW

Promoting mixed-income development built in close proximity to the region’s transit services is an important strategy to provide more affordable living opportunities.  This strategy is sometimes known as Transit Oriented Development (TOD).  What are the impediments to developing TODs with a long term affordability component in the Atlanta region? What partnerships are needed to overcome these? How do we ensure that existing residents are not displaced as future redevelopments occur and property values rise? What incentives and financing tools are needed to make mixed-income TOD development economically feasible?

 

A new federal Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities is being jointly implemented by HUD, the US DOT, and the US EPA.  The federal agencies are seeking to advance strategies that help families gain better access to affordable housing, more transportation options and lower transportation costs. The partnership’s initiatives are urging local governments and metropolitan areas to undertake planning and development efforts that integrate housing, land use, economic and workforce development and transportation - specifically taking advantage of transit oriented development TOD opportunities.

 

The September 1st Regional Housing Forum will feature two national speakers from leading regions in the U.S. who are developing communities around transit - Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California. The lessons that can be learned from these two regions will be critically important to the Atlanta region in the coming years.    

 

 

9:00 a.m. Registration

 

9:30 a.m. Welcome - Bill Bolling, Context for Forum

 

This forum will feature two national perspectives from regions who have successfully implemented mixed-income TODs for over a decade.

 

9:45-10:20

Chris Yake, Portland Metro
Mr. Yake will discuss the Portland Region’s TOD program and the innovative measures they have implemented to develop long-term affordable housing as part of their TOD projects.  Metro is the directly elected regional government that serves more than 1.5 million residents in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties, and the 25 cities in the Portland, Oregon

 

 

10:20-10:55

Doug Johnson

San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Mr. Johnson will offer insight into their Transportation for Livable Communities & Housing Incentive Program. The TLC-HIP program is similar to ARC’s LCI initiative, but includes a strong housing incentive component to local governments that build affordable housing near transit stations.  Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

11:00 - 11:45 a.m.

Tom Weyandt, Atlanta Regional Commission
Jim Durrett, Buckhead CID, MARTA Board Member
James Shelby, City of Atlanta Commissioner of Planning and Community Development

 

Moderator - Bill Bolling
 
11:45 Adjourn