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NIHC 2010
"Building Sustainable and Inclusive Communities"
"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." | |
-- Margaret Mead |
SPONSORS
MAJOR FUNDING PROVIDED BY THE FORD FOUNDATION
| UNDERWRITERS
PLATINUM SPONSORS
- Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
- Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen
- Eakin Youngetob & Associates
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Understand the connections between local inclusionary housing policies and today's
federal initiatives for partnerships involving housing, transportation and the environment. |
The 2010 National Inclusionary Housing Conference will be held November 3-5, 2010 at the Loew's L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC. This Conference is the third national conference on this topic that has been co-sponsored by the Innovative Housing Institute (IHI), the National Housing Conference (NHC), PolicyLink, and Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI).
The Conference serves as an educational and policy analysis forum for practitioners of inclusionary housing, representatives of localities that are considering the adoption of inclusionary programs, developers of inclusionary communities, attorneys, academics, and advocates. They discuss best practices and find answers to challenges that arise with any inclusionary housing program. The conference also seeks to build bridges between key constituencies who often disagree over policy options to address the affordable housing crisis.
This Conference is scheduled at a very pivotal point in time, almost two years into the Obama Presidency and immediately after the Congressional mid-term elections. It will be located in a hotel that is immediately adjacent to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with the aim of engaging and educating federal housing officials as well as other federal departments or agencies that affect or are affected by housing policy. These other departments and agencies would include the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Education as well as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
About Inclusionary Housing
Inclusionary Housing or IH is an effective policy that at its core is very simple: It is a use of the "police powers" that are reserved to the states under the tenth amendment. This reserves the right to the states to make laws and regulations governing the safety, health, and welfare of the community, and to delegate such powers to counties, cities, towns, and villages within the state. Inclusionary Housing legislation requires or creates incentives so that affordable housing is provided as part of the development of the community, often as an integral part of the local zoning laws or land use plan.
There are a number of activities going on at the federal level that reflect the recognition that a sound housing policy is critical to a healthy economy and a fair and equitable nation.
Recently, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan spoke at HUD's Brooke-Mondale auditorium and said:
"...Lastly, let me say a word about our commitment to building more
inclusive communities. The truth is, you can't have a truly sustainable
community if you promote segregated development patterns and
concentrated poverty.
And let's be honest, the neighborhoods of concentrated poverty we see
in communities across America didn't result in spite of government Ð
but it many cases because of it.
That's why, whether it is Westchester County or any community in
America failing to meet fair housing obligations, we expect communities
receiving federal funding to end practices that limit diversity and
start promoting stable, inclusive communities. And we're prepared to
provide clearer guidance and more support than ever before to ensure
that they can."
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Conference Objectives
A key goal of this Conference is to inform and support federal efforts to influence local and state policy and practices that will promote inclusion and access to opportunity. This will dovetail with a number of current federal initiatives, including the Sustainable Communities Initiative, and the newly created Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, the Transforming Rental Assistance (TRA) initiative, and the joint HUD-DOT-EPA research effort designed to advance transportation and housing linkages.
In addition to these complementary federal initiatives it is appropriate to highlight how inclusionary housing programs address in a positive way a number of the issues that led to the downfall of the American housing market. These attributes have been highlighted in a new study, "A Path to Homeownership: Building a More Sustainable Strategy for Expanding Homeownership" by Rick Jacobus and David M. Abromowitz just released by the Center for American Progress. Given the huge federal investments that are now propping up the ownership market it will be appropriate to highlight an alternative and less risky approach for federal policy consideration.
Conference Themes
Here are some key Conference themes:
- Inclusionary Housing is a key ingredient in sustainable communities. Best policies and practices should be highlighted and educational dissemination strategies be identified;
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Inclusionary Housing is an efficient way to reduce the cost of housing, is a green growth strategy, and can make Transit Oriented Development a sustainably affordable choice;
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Inclusionary Housing promotes fair housing, communities of choice, access to better educational opportunities, and the provision of rental opportunities that are in sustainable communities;
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State and local land use policy must be influenced by Federal policy to promote competitiveness, efficiency in the use of federal funding, environmental protection, and access to opportunity; and
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Around the nation, states and localities have recognized the need for inclusion and have enacted laws and policies to implement it, largely absent Federal investment and support. Now the federal government can build on and support those efforts by backing inclusionary activities and providing subsidies to ensure that the developments are "inclusive for all."
Contact Information
For conference registration details, and additional information as it becomes available, please email Laura Nickle.
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