Strategies

The Healthy Community Design Initiative, also known as the Built Environment and Health Initiative, is no longer a funded program and the information on this website is not being reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

 

This section presents five action steps to minimize the adverse effects of gentrification. Communities can work toward these with the help of planners and public health professionals.

1. Create affordable housing for all incomes
   • Develop mixed-income communities
     • Mixed-income communities offer a variety of housing prices that could include both single and multifamily units, which provide housing choices for multiple income levels
     • Smart Growth Principles support creating a range of housing opportunities and choices: http://www.smartgrowth.org/why.php
     • A Quality Growth Toolkit developed by the Atlanta Regional Commission is a useful tool for implementing mixed– income housing strategies
   • Adopt inclusionary zoning policies
     • Inclusionary zoning is a promising policy strategy that allocates a percentage of the rental or for-sale units in housing developments for low- and moderate-income residents. In return, developers receive cost offsets as compensation for their affordable housing contributions: http://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/inclusionary-zoning.pdf [PDF – 4.1 MB]
   • Identify incentives (e.g., tax breaks and credits) for planners, developers, and local governments to control displacement
     • For example, see the Brownfield Tax Incentives: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/index.html
2. Approve policies to ensure continued affordability of housing units and the ability of residents to remain in their homes
   • Consider code enforcement policies that assist residents with home improvements
   • Consider implementing rent controls
   • Preserve federally subsidized housing programs
   • Consider location-efficient mortgages that provide competitive rates and low down payments to those who want to live in “location-efficient communities” that are convenient to resources and reduce the need to drive
3. Increase individuals’ assets to reduce dependence on subsidized housing
   • Consider homeownership programs
   • Explore job creation strategies and programs
4. Ensure that new housing-related investments benefit current residents
   • Review development proposals to determine whether the changes could cause displacement
     • For example, conduct a health impact assessment: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/hia.htm
5. Involve the community
   • Allow the community to provide input into the design and redevelopment of their neighborhoods
   • Educate the community on their available options
   • Create organized bodies and partnerships that develop programs to mitigate gentrification