{"id":209072,"date":"2019-02-05T07:00:37","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T15:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=209072"},"modified":"2022-04-03T16:07:42","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T23:07:42","slug":"maps-aid-affordable-housing-push-in-chapel-hill-north-carolina","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/maps-aid-affordable-housing-push-in-chapel-hill-north-carolina","title":{"rendered":"Maps Aid Affordable Housing Push in Chapel Hill, North Carolina"},"author":5152,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[461441],"tags":[1271,279402,961,237681],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[478722],"esri_blog_department":[478192],"class_list":["post-209072","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-equity-social-justice","tag-housing","tag-public-policy","tag-spatial-analysis","tag-urban-planning","esri-blog-category-housing","esri_blog_department-gis-for-good"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"To avoid residents of mobile home parks being permanently displaced, town employees create maps to allocate land for affordable housing.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Key Takeaways\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Town staff turn to GIS to analyze how development proposals impact residents.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Affordable housing is a growing concern, and GIS analysis allows cities to weigh options.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>3D development models provide intuitive means for stakeholder feedback.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"In 2017, the residents and families living in a 33-unit mobile home park in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, received news from the property owner that within a year they would have to relocate so the property could be redeveloped. After the tight-knit community made an impassioned plea for help, the Chapel Hill Town Council mobilized a small team of Town employees to explore affordable housing options.\r\n\r\n\u201cAbout 90% of the residents in our mobile home communities are Latino, primarily Spanish speaking, from low-income households. Many residents are long-standing members of our community,\u201d explains Sarah Vi\u00f1as, Assistant Director, Office for Housing and Community, Town of Chapel Hill. \u201cThe town is really committed to have housing options available to these and all of our residents.\u201d\r\n\r\nGoing back several decades, the Town of Chapel Hill deployed a land-use strategy mandating specific areas for urban development and others for preservation. The rural buffer prevents development on town outskirts and limits growth, which in turn reduces the amount of available land and increases land costs\u2014presenting a challenge for the Town\u2019s Office for Housing and Community.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe initiative to identify opportunities for affordable housing was uncharted territory for the Town\u2019s GIS team. There are only four mobile home communities in town and they're all in relatively high-value commercial areas,\u201d says Dave Almond, Senior GIS Analyst in the Department of Technology Solutions, Town of Chapel Hill."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":209222,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Maps and Community Feedback <\/strong>\r\n\r\nTown staff began by reaching out to the mobile home park residents at meetings and conducting surveys to learn more about who they are, their household demographics, and their housing preferences. The desire was to craft solutions based on specific needs.\r\n\r\nAfter Vi\u00f1as and her team connected with all the mobile home park residents in Chapel Hill, they realized a mobile home was one of their least preferred housing types for relocation.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe've been really committed to the resident engagement piece, starting with what residents say they want and designing strategies around it,\u201d Vi\u00f1as says. \u201cAs a town, we've been really intentional about our approach to listen and get feedback so we don\u2019t create solutions that in the end, may or may not work for people.\u201d\r\n\r\nVi\u00f1as\u2019 department then worked collaboratively with Almond who analyzed and mapped available Town-owned land for relocation using the town\u2019s geographic information system (GIS). Almond created a comprehensive visualization of properties, including amenities near potential sites.\r\n\r\nAfter Almond did an initial series of suitability analyses for candidate properties, he created high-quality 3D scenes, derived from 2D operational data, and shared them online to gather staff feedback.\r\n\r\nThe immersive 3D maps helped staff visualize properties and possibilities. \u201cI wanted to go as far as I could to accurately represent in the 3D space absolute constraints to development. Deriving site characteristics such as slopes, existing structures, and vegetation from high accuracy LiDAR data allowed us to create spatially accurate 3D scenarios,\u201d Almond explains.\r\n\r\nThe 3D site models helped the team collect design criteria from technical reviewers including engineers, transit and public safety officials, and Town planners. Each reviewer could comment on potential sites in terms of deficiencies or specific needs for regulation and development, enabling Almond to refine the 3D concept scenarios."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":209642,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Benefits of Visual Data<\/strong>\r\n\r\nFor Vi\u00f1as, a data visualization provided some surprising insights, including the integration of affordable housing throughout the town. \u201cOur affordable housing is spread throughout the community, and not concentrating low-income people in specific neighborhoods is really best practice in the field,\u201d Vi\u00f1as says. \u201cSo, seeing the data mapped was really striking. There\u2019s a lot of benefits for neighborhoods to be diverse in terms of income, race, and other demographic factors.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor residents facing relocation, maps showed amenities located near potential sites as well as upcoming and recent developments near the mobile home park. Vi\u00f1as says the residents \u201creally reacted to that\u201d as they hadn\u2019t understood all of the development unfolding around them.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe weren't quite sure when we put that together if people would make the connection and if it would be clear,\u201d Vi\u00f1as says. \u201cI think it was pretty neat to see the real-life use of some of these mapping tools, which sometimes can feel difficult to understand.\u201d\r\n\r\nAccording to Vi\u00f1as, the maps created by Almond and the GIS team are essential for the Chapel Hill Town Council. Quarterly reports on affordable housing presented to the Council include a heat map of affordable housing in Chapel Hill.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe visualization tools were really helpful for an understanding of the broader context of the issue,\u201d Vi\u00f1as says.\r\n\r\nWhile the developer poised to redevelop the mobile home community that triggered this investigation later withdrew the proposal, the mapping explorations spurred by this activity have informed the Town's efforts to identify suitable sites for affordable housing development."},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":209142,"text":"This affordable housing project has very real consequences for the economically vulnerable residents in a town where the average home price is $330,000.","author_name":"Dave Almond","author_profession_organization":"Senior GIS Analyst\/Town of Chapel Hill"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Looking to the Future<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe majority of Chapel Hill residents (72%) approved an Affordable Housing Bond Referendum in November 2018 which included $10 million to help support the development of 400 new affordable housing units and preservation of 300 existing affordable units over the next five years. The bond will fund and support several large-scale affordable housing projects, including public housing redevelopment and development on town-owned parcels.\r\n\r\n\u201cInitially, the interest was a public intervention for this specific community, looking for just one property that could house the 33 units needed,\u201d Almond says. \u201cThe bond provides the Town with the resources to pursue potential affordable housing development that would serve mobile home park and other low-income residents on Town land that the Town Council has prioritized for this purpose.\u00a0 So, I didn\u2019t expect the outcome; it was a wonderful surprise for our team and the deserving residents.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":209702,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"This particular initiative sparked more than just discussion of the future of affordable housing in Chapel Hill; it inspired renewed focus among town leaders. The Office for Housing and Community is working on a partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the Building Integrated Communities (BIC) project.\r\n\r\nBIC is a multi-year community planning process that helps local governments in North Carolina engage with local foreign-born, refugee, and Hispanic and Latino residents in order to improve relationships, enhance communication, and promote civic participation and leadership.\r\n\r\nOne aspect of BIC is looking at mobile home parks both in and in the immediate vicinity of Chapel Hill to see how far residents live from public transportation that they rely on to travel to and from work, school, and other critical services.\r\n\r\n\u201cI've been working on affordable housing at various levels and this helps complete the picture for me,\u201d Almond explains. \u201cNow, it expands to the outside of town and incorporates transit.\u201d\r\n\r\nAlmond says he\u2019s gained a solid understanding of affordable housing, and as a GIS analyst, he wants to use GIS technology and analytics to help arrive at practical solutions that help people.\r\n\r\n\u201cChapel Hill is only about 57,000 people. There's under 700 employees for the town government and I'm one of three GIS analysts,\u201d Almond says. \u201cSo, we really have to champion the analytical capabilities of GIS because most people may not understand what's possible.\u201d\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nTo learn more about Chapel Hill\u2019s affordable housing, visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chapelhillaffordablehousing.org\">www.chapelhillaffordablehousing.org<\/a>.\u00a0Affordable Housing is one of many topics addressed on the <a href=\"https:\/\/livingatlas.arcgis.com\/policy\/overview\/\">Esri Maps for Public Policy<\/a> site. Visit this resource to see how maps and spatial data help leaders make more data-driven decisions."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Maps Aid Affordable Housing Push in Chapel Hill, North Carolina<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Town of Chapel Hill prepared for the potential redevelopment of a low-income mobile home park by determining the best town-owned land to dedicate to affordable housing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/maps-aid-affordable-housing-push-in-chapel-hill-north-carolina\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maps Aid Affordable 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