Coastal Smart Growth Home: Getting Started: Workforce Housing Accommodation
WORKFORCE HOUSING ACCOMMODATIONS
In waterfront communities, housing can be unaffordable for much of the workforce that communities need to grow and thrive, such as polices officers, teachers, and retail employees, which may result in long and costly commutes from less expensive inland locations, generating congestion and pollution. Providing affordable housing choices in the long term helps protect the environment and keep the local economy viable.
How to Get Started
Town of Breckenridge, Colorado Planning Department - National Award for Smart Growth Achievement - 2002 Winners Presentation
The Town of Breckenridge, Colorado Planning Department was EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities 2002 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement award winner for the built projects category. The Wellington Neighborhood is an example of a development that has increased the supply of affordable housing for the workforce, cleaned a contaminated site, and created a compact, walkable neighborhood with access to trails and open space.
Smart Growth & Affordable Housing
The EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities website include background information and resources on smart growth and affordable housing.
Taking the Initiative: A Guidebook on Creating Local Affordable Housing Strategies
The Citizens' Housing and Planning Association guidebook provides a wide range of funding, zoning, land use, and tax incentive strategies for creating affordable housing opportunities.
Center for Housing Policy’s Policy Toolbox
The Center for Housing Policy's toolbox includes a unit on increasing the availability of affordable housing, which includes strategies for leveraging employers' commitment to affordable homes for workers, expanding the supply of homes through rezoning, and generating capital.
