Phoenix Announces First-Ever Plan To Address The Housing Shortage In Phoenix

Press release from the City of Phoenix:

July 20, 2020

Housing Mayor Kate Gallego and Housing Department Director Cindy Stotler Show Caption Hide Caption Phoenix Announces First-Ever Plan to Address the Housing Shortage in Phoenix July 20, 2020 4:00 PM

In the city of Phoenix, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn is intensifying the already existing housing crisis. Phoenix residents, as well as residents in other cities across the country, are experiencing job losses, which can make it even more challenging to afford a place to live.

According to Housing and Urban Development's Fair Market Rents, in Arizona the cost of a two-bedroom apartment is $1,097. To afford this level of rent, as well as utilities, a household would need to earn $43,892 annually, or an hourly wage of $21.10 – more than nine dollars above Arizona's minimum wage.

To assist residents with this challenge, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego announces the city's first-ever Housing Phoenix Plan, which establishes a goal of creating or preserving 50,000 homes by 2030 to address the housing shortage in Phoenix.

“In June of this year, the Phoenix City Council unanimously approved the first-ever Housing Phoenix Plan. As the fastest growing city in the nation, this initiative works to address our many housing needs and recommends innovative, solution-oriented policies to create a better Phoenix for all. This plan brings us a step closer to becoming the city we all want for ourselves, our children, and our future," says Mayor Kate Gallego.

The Housing Phoenix Plan documents the findings of the city's Affordable Housing Initiative, which launched in 2019 with the goal of completing a housing needs assessment and establishing policy recommendations to address the city's current housing challenge. Through extensive research and community outreach, the plan identifies the community's housing needs, documents the housing gap, compiles nationwide best practices, and recommends the following nine policy initiatives to reach the goal of creating a stronger and more vibrant Phoenix through increased housing options for all:

1. Prioritize New Housing in Areas of Opportunity
2. Amend Current Zoning Ordinance to Facilitate More Housing Options
3. Redevelop City-Owned Land with Mixed-Income Housing
4. Enhance Public-Private Partnerships and Increase Public, Private and Philanthropic Financing
5. Building Innovations and Cost-Saving Practices
6. Increase Affordable Housing Developer Representation
7. Expand Efforts to Preserve Existing Housing Stock
8. Support Affordable Housing Legislation
9. Education Campaign

As the fifth largest city in the country, Phoenix has experienced consistent population growth which has outpaced the growth of the housing market. A housing gap analysis of the current housing need and the available housing stock shows that Phoenix currently has a need for 163,067 additional housing units.

The plan has been publicly supported by the following organizations:

• Arizona Housing Coalition – “The Arizona Housing Coalition supports these policy recommendations, which have shown great success in increasing affordable housing in other communities across the nation."
• Arizona Multihousing Association – “Housing affordability is a very complex issue, but the very real and attainable policies presented in the Affordable Housing Initiative will help remedy these issues."
• Downtown Voices Coalition – “We express our strong support for the Affordable Housing Initiative."
• Greater Phoenix Leadership (GPL) – “The strong consensus of GPL CEOs is that the policy recommendations outlined in the Affordable Housing Initiative are worthy of implementation."
• Phoenix Community Alliance – “We write to emphatically support Phoenix's Affordable Housing Initiative as it is currently formed and presented."

For more information about the Affordable Housing Initiative or the Housing Phoenix Plan, please contact Affordable Housing Advocate, Sheree Bouchee at sheree.bouchee@phoenix.gov.

This press release was produced by the City of Phoenix. The views expressed here are the author’s own.