California Inclusionary Housing Policy Database

Welcome to the new and improved California Inclusionary Housing Database! Thanks to a grant from the S.H. Cowell Foundation, the California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) has redesigned and upgraded the first edition of our inclusionary housing database. Now, by simply using one of the three portals, users can explore individual or multiple inclusionary policies by geographical location, specific policy characteristics or population size. These new analytical tools make it easy for users to sort through over 150 inclusionary housing policies and efficiently group, compare and contrast them based on over thirty different characteristics and three levels of geography. Easy point and click-through access can quickly link the user directly to a detailed policy summary of any inclusionary policy along with the actual policy document during any phase of a search. And for those who wish to explore a specific policy, our index section provides direct access through an alphabetically-organized listing of inclusionary jurisdictions. It is our hope that these new improvements will enable researchers, planners, public officials, developers, housing advocates and other stakeholders to learn more about how over 150 of California’s cities and counties are using inclusionary housing policies to provide affordable housing for first time homebuyers, families, local employees, seniors, disabled persons and those with special housing needs.

As the first of its kind in the United States, the California Inclusionary Housing Database contains information on the key characteristics of California IH policies existing in 2009. It is estimated that there are approximately 150 such policies in the state at this time. CCRH was able to retrieve electronic and hard copy versions of approximately 80% of these policies—over 130. At this point, there are policies in the database.

The database provides summaries of policy characteristics for each city and county. Users may search for these summaries by geographical location, jurisdiction name or by more than 30 other characteristics or criteria.  For example, users can use our geographical portal to search for  jurisdictions with an inclusionary housing policy within specific counties, regions or the entire state.  Alternatively, users could search for inclusionary housing policies based on common characteristics such all jurisdictions with population between 50,000 and 100,000 that have mandatory ordinances, require 15% to 20% of units be affordable to low- and moderate-income households, and allow land dedications or payment of in-lieu fees. In addition, each summary provides a link to the jurisdiction’s full policy. A glossary defines key terms.

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge and thank the following individuals and organization whose work and funding support made this database project possible:

CCRH Staff and Consultants

Deputy Director, Dewey Bandy coordinated the design and upgrades of the database.  A CCRH staff team of Dewey Bandy, Executive Director Rob Wiener and Community Development Specialist Darryl Rutherford were responsible for the design of the database.  They worked with our technology consultant, Rebecca White of Chicago Technology who was responsible for the technical design, development and programming of the database.  CCRH interns Brandi Odom, Judson Brown and Janette Villar were responsible for collecting policies, inputting their key characteristics and updating changes to policies. 

Data Collection

Along with CCRH staff, the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH), Sacramento Housing Alliance, and San Diego Housing Federation collected data on the inclusionary housing policies and inclusionary housing production numbers listed in the database. 

Collaborators

CCRH received valuable technical assistance, input and other support from Paula Authier, Sierra Planning and Housing Alliance; Bill Higgins, League of California Cities; Mona Tawatao, Legal Services of Northern California; and Tom Scott, San Diego Housing Foundation.  We have also received valuable feedback and suggestions from the many users of our database.

Funders

The upgrade and updates for the second version of the database was funded through a grant from the S.H. Cowell Foundation.  Previous funding support came from the S.H. Cowell Foundation, Butler Family Fund, Bank of America Foundation, Union Bank of California Foundation, U.S. Bank Foundation, Washington Mutual Bank Foundation, and Wells Fargo Bank Foundation.

Disclaimer

Given the complexity of many of these policies, it is likely that mistakes in interpretation and inputting errors were made. Additionally, searchable criteria, such as minimum and maximum percentages of units targeted, were sometimes simplified from more complicated formulas laid out within the text of policies. Read the full policies for a thorough understanding of their content and contact jurisdictions for current copies of policies that may have been amended since being posted.

The database is a snapshot in time. To make it an organic and interactive tool, please do not hesitate to contact us about the California IH Policy Database to clarify terminology, to identify errors, and update new or existing policies.

A description of our information sources and research methods is available: Inclusionary Housing Policy Database Methodology.