Abstract
California’s intense affordable housing crisis has highlighted the fundamental linkage between land use, transportation, climate policy, and equity. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the main contributor to climate change, is a priority policy goal for the state of California, and cutting vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is a key mechanism for achieving this goal. In order to equitably achieve this reduction, it is critical that affordable housing options be situated in areas that facilitate less driving, through reliable access to public transit, walkability, and proximity to employment. These elements, among others, can combine to create more sustainable communities.In the face of rising housing prices, publicly subsidized affordable housing is crucial for low-income and other vulnerable Californians. This study analyzed geographic transportation, environmental, and racial and economic equity indicators alongside the spatial distributions of two affordable housing programs in 2012 and their change from 2012 to 2019:
• Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV), also known as “Section 8”: the nation’s major tenant-based rental support program, a portable voucher designed to cover the gap between 30% of a household’s income and the cost of rent in a market unit.
• Low-income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC): the nation’s largest project-based affordable housing development program, a tax credit used to subsidize income-restricted, lower-rent housing units.
