Ordinance No. 20585 - Laserfiche WebLink

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aspects of its quality of life suffer). Location can also be a burden— households that live farther from work and shopping opportunities will have to spend more money on transportation. Moreover, while some new housing is government -assisted housing, public agencies do not have the financial resources to meet but a small fraction of that need. New housing does not, and is not likely to, fully address all these needs because housing developers, like any other business, strive for profits. In fact, many of those needs are much more likely to be satisfied by existing housing: the older, used stock of structures that is usually less expensive per square foot than new housing. Thus, forecasting the type of new units that might be built in a region (by type, size, and price) is unlikely to bear any relationship to the type of housing to which most people with acute housing needs will turn to solve their housing problems. One key reason for this is that the cost of building new housing (land, services, materials, labor) is such that it is not "affordable" to low- income households at a price that recovers cost, much less one that generates normal profit. This "trickle-down" effect is well known among housing specialists. In most communities a quick comparison of new home prices with income distributions will underscore the fact that developers tend to focus on the move -up market and not on entry-level housing. Viewed in the light of those definitions (e.g., housing demand and housing need), the requirements of Goal 10 need clarification. Goal 10 mandates that communities plan for housing that meets the needs of households at all income levels. Thus, Goal 10 implies that everyone has a housing need. As we have noted, however, it is hard to justify spending public resources on the needs of high-income households: they have the income to purchase (demand) adequate housing services in the housing market. The housing they can afford may not be everything they want, but most policymakers would agree that the difference does not classify as the same kind of need that burdens very -low-income households. In the context of the statewide land use program, planning for housing is addressed through local comprehensive plans and development codes. Moreover, state policy places some restrictions on what local governments can do. In other words, cities are limited to regulating housing types and densities which correspond roughly to housing costs. It is important to note that increased density can decrease housing costs, but high density housing is not always low cost housing. This study is not the place to resolve debates about definitions of housing need and the purposes of Goal 10. Our analysis of need addresses the Goal 10 requirements regarding financial need (ability to obtain housing) for Part 11 — Eugene Housing Needs Analysis ECONorthwest Page 11