| With an estimated 3,862,210 people currently residing in Los Angeles, this city is the second most populous metropolis in the United States. Like most major cities in the nation, Los Angeles faces an affordable housing crisis. Given the challenge, local government officials seek the best practices that will ensure that residents at all income levels have access to fair, safe, and affordable rental housing. However, existing land use and zoning regulations and location and availability of qualifying site amenities make it difficult for the City to achieve this goal. This research investigates suitable sites for the construction of higher density affordable rental housing developments (55-218 dwelling units/acre) in the City of Los Angeles. It identifies and examines factors such as land use, zoning, cost of land, fair share, employment, and site amenities meant to maximize the effectiveness of affordable rental housing developments---defined as providing housing to very low-income, low-income, and moderate-income households. Furthermore, it explores how these variables limit the policymakers' abilities to move forward with these types of projects. Accordingly, a fair share analysis, service area analysis, and site suitability analysis of Los Angeles are performed to identify suitable sites for the construction of higher density affordable rental housing developments. The site suitability analysis consists of six iterations that simulate the different perspectives that play a role in the production of higher density affordable rental housing developments. Results of the analysis indicate that existing land use and zoning regulations and the established criteria for qualifying California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) site amenities impact the production and location of these types of developments in the City of Los Angeles. The weighted linear combination method is applied to this analysis to show how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology and techniques best support housing policy. |
