Housing

Securing a decent home within a suitable living environment represents a highly desired, but often elusive goal for many individuals and families residing in the Southeastern Wisconsin region. In the late 1960s SEWRPC, responding to a request from the Mayor of the City of Milwaukee, determined that a housing plan would constitute a major contribution to the efforts of those in the public and private sectors who focus on housing and housing related issues on a day-to-day basis. While housing is generally provided by the private sector, there are a number of public policy considerations that need to be taken into account. These include the proper coordination of housing development with other aspects of comprehensive regional development, including job locations; the regulation by the public sector of the provision of housing in the private sector; discriminatory activity relative to the sale and rental of housing; and the determination of the extent to which the public sector should help provide housing for those households and individuals who have housing needs that cannot be adequately met owing to inadequate financial resources.

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Legacy Regional Housing Plan

A regional housing plan for Southeastern Wisconsin was adopted in 1975. That plan is documented in SEWRPC Planning Report No. 20, A Regional Housing Plan for Southeastern Wisconsin, February 1975. The housing study represented a concentrated effort to identify the nature and extent of housing problems in the region, assess the overall effectiveness of attempts to resolve those problems, articulate housing objectives and standards having a timeless character, and develop a regional housing plan designed to meet the identified housing needs of the region. While dated, the housing plan remains a relevant foundation upon which to conduct current efforts.

Current Regional Housing Plan Update

Acting in response to requests from several sources, and with the permission of the Federal and State Departments of Transportation to use Federal and State funds provided to SEWRPC for land use and transportation planning, SEWRPC began an effort in late 2008 to again identify housing needs in the region and develop an updated regional housing plan. That effort is now underway.

The Jobs / Housing Balance

One of the challenges facing the region relates to the imbalance between jobs and housing, particularly with respect to inadequate supplies of affordable housing stock in proximity to emerging employment centers. The current regional housing plan is exploring this situation and will articulate policy recommendations to address this aspect of the housing problem.

Housing Discrimination

Federal and State laws make housing discrimination illegal against any individual in one or more of several named protected classes. Those classes deal with race, color, gender, national origin/ancestry, religion, age, disability/handicap, marital status, legal source of income, sexual orientation, and family status. The current regional housing plan will examine and report on available evidence of housing discrimination, analyze the extent to which local land use controls and enforcement policies have a disparate impact on housing availability in the region, and review and articulate legal requirements regarding fair housing practices to be met by those communities that receive various types of Federal funds.

Accessible Housing

One aspect of the housing problem involves the provision of adequate numbers of accessible housing units, such units being designed and built to be used by persons with various types of disabilities. The current regional housing plan will address this matter, reporting on construction practices that tend to increase the number of new accessible housing units, as well as units for individuals with special needs that are not necessarily physical disabilities.

Subsidized Housing

Publicly subsidized housing stock remains an important avenue of meeting housing needs within the region. The current regional housing plan will address this matter, identifying the number and distribution of subsidized units, addressing the problems associated with extending the life of the existing subsidized housing stock, and attempting to identify and articulate the lessons learned over the past several decades in determining the type, amount, and location of subsidized housing units.

Best Housing Practices

The current regional housing plan has been structured to identify and report on best housing practices not only in the region, but throughout the State of Wisconsin and nation. This may extend to case studies of successful efforts in the region to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing within the various communities and examples of sustainable, or environmentally responsible, residential development practices.