Affordable Housing in High Opportunity Areas
People’s economic opportunity depends a lot on where they live. Some areas foster economic success more than others, offering residents economic opportunity and mobility. These areas typically have high incomes or low levels of poverty, strong economic growth, well-run schools, public transportation, and access to quality health care. Areas with these benefits are generally referred to as high opportunity areas.
Although high opportunity areas provide economic and social benefits for their residents, developing affordable housing within these areas has historically been difficult. High costs for land and construction, lack of buildable land and zoning restrictions are the types of challenges that can become a barrier to access for lower-income families. In this paper, we discuss three case studies on existing affordable housing properties in high opportunity areas to better understand local efforts and successes. These multifamily properties showcase practical, replicable solutions to the challenge of affordable housing in high opportunity areas.
