1st Edition

A Decent Home Planning, Building, and Preserving Affordable Housing

By Alan Mallach Copyright 2009
    384 Pages
    by Routledge

    384 Pages
    by Routledge

    What is a decent home? Does it simply provide shelter from the elements? Is it affordable enough that you can buy the other necessities of life? Does it connect you to a community with adequate social and economic resources? Noted housing expert Mallach turns his decades of experience to these questions in this book

    The author nuanced analysis of housing issues critical to communities across the country will help planners evaluate the housing situation in their own communities and formulate specific plans to address a variety of housing problems. The book is both a practical step-by-step guide to developing affordable housing and a sophisticated introduction to housing policy. Chapters address design, site selection, project approval, financing, and the history of housing policy in the United States. Planners will find useful information about inclusionary and exclusionary zoning, affordable housing preservation, and the risks and rewards of affordable-home-ownership programs. The author also connects the dots among regional economic competitiveness, quality of life, community revitalization, and affordable housing.

    Biography

    Alan Mallach, FAICP, is a nonresident senior fellow of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution and a visiting scholar of the Community Affairs Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.