Title

Local Land Use and Affordable Housing: The Role of Data, Policy and Politics

Time

1:40 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Location

1605 Tilia, Room 1103, West Village

Abstract

California is facing a severe housing affordability crisis, particularly in its coastal cities. While there are multiple contributing factors to the rising cost of housing, it is clear that supply matters, and there is an urgent need to expand supply in equitable and environmentally sustainable ways. Yet municipalities across the state are falling far short of their fair share housing obligations, the impacts of local policies to expand the supply of affordable housing are not well understood, and funding streams often work at cross-purposes, undermining equity and environmental sustainability goals.  In this presentation, Professors Galante and Reid will present current research on how local land use policies constrain the supply of housing, and discuss the role of data, policy and politics in forging innovative solutions to California’s housing crisis.

Biographical Sketch

Carol Galante: Carol Galante is the I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor in Affordable Housing and Urban Policy and the Faculty Director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, both at UC Berkeley. The Terner Center for Housing Innovation has a mission to formulate bold strategies to house families from all walks of life in vibrant, sustainable, and affordable homes and communities. As Faculty Director, Galante leads in the advancement of innovative and practical housing solutions in the private and public sector. In addition, she co-chairs the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics.

Prior to coming to UC Berkeley, Galante served in the Obama Administration for over five years as the Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing programs.

As FHA commissioner during the recent financial crisis, Galante provided key leadership in the housing sector, including strengthening FHA’s infrastructure and policies while providing access to credit that helped stabilize the housing market. She also developed signature initiatives that provided better opportunities to low-income families including Choice Neighborhoods and the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program. 

Prior to her appointment at HUD, Galante was President and Chief Executive of BRIDGE Housing Corporation, the largest nonprofit developer of affordable, mixed-income and mixed-use developments in California. Galante has also worked for local government in city planning and community economic development. She holds a Master of City Planning from U.C. Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts from Ohio Wesleyan.

Carolina Reid:Carolina Reid, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California at Berkeley and the Faculty Research Advisor for the Terner Center for Housing Innovation. Carolina specializes in housing and community development, with a specific focus on place-based anti-poverty strategies including policy efforts to expand access to affordable housing and homeownership for low-income and minority households, the Community Reinvestment Act, and neighborhood stabilization. Before joining the faculty at UC Berkeley, Carolina served as the Research Manager for the Community Development Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.