TIGblogs - Ben Warner

Upcoming opportunity from KnowledgePlex (http://www.knowledgeplex.org):

The Housing + Transportation Affordability Index: A New Way of Defining Affordability
Thursday, July 31 at 2:00 p.m. ET

A New Way of Defining Affordability: The Housing + Transportation Affordability Index, developed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and its collaborative partner, the Center for Transit Oriented Development (CTOD), is an innovative tool that measures the true affordability of housing by including the cost of transportation associated with location. Planners, lenders, and most consumers traditionally measure housing affordability as 30 percent or less of income. The Housing + Transportation Affordability Index, in contrast, takes into account not just the cost of housing, but also the intrinsic value of place, as quantified through transportation expenses.

The latest release of the H + T Index, a project of the Brookings Institution’s Urban Markets Initiative, includes an interactive mapping site which provides housing and transportation costs at the neighborhood level for 52 metropolitan areas. Additionally, other key characteristics of neighborhoods are presented, including average VMT (vehicle miles traveled), auto ownership rates, employment density, and transit ridership. Recognizing the relationship between urban form, housing site selection, and transportation costs and integrating this way of thinking into the choices and decisions made by home buyers, renters, urban and transportation planners and developers are key factors in creating and establishing true affordability in housing choices.

In this chat, you will have the opportunity to learn about the Housing + Transportation Affordability Index and how it can be used by planners, housing advocates and transportation agencies.

More infomation about this Expert Chat will soon be posted here.