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Online Lectures Advocate High Density Housing

Developed with support from the Fannie Mae Foundation, “Demystifying Density” is a new module in the Affordable Housing Design Advisor. Ten short lectures by Tom Jones, a former executive director of the California Futures Network and the current dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at California State Polytechnic University, can be watched on a computer in streaming video presentations, and they are accompanied by powerpoint slides that can be used in presentations.

The lectures address three key questions:

• What is density?
• What does density look like?
• How can I use good design to create compact, high density housing developments that are attractive, high quality and affordable places to live?

The lectures point out that compact development saves open space, can reduce car trips by 20%-40%, improves air quality, reduces traffic and pedestrian fatalities and supports local stores and businesses in the community.

Among problems identified in the lectures:

• “Many infill lots that could become housing are zoned commercial to attract more sales tax uses.”
• “The jobs and housing imbalance worsens. More people are driving longer commutes to find affordable homes.”
• “Development and road patterns discourage walking or bicycling. Car use for non-work destinations now accounts for 73% of all trips.”

The Affordable Housing Design Advisor was developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development with assistance from the American Institute of Architects, the Enterprise Foundation, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the National Congress for Community Economic Development and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.

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