Kendra Bridges, Land Use Policy Director Maximizing Your Fair Housing and Equity Assessment for Regional Prosperity: Establishing Equity Working Groups Webinar July 25, 2012 Kendra Bridges, Land Use Policy Director

Introduction to SHA and CORE SHA was founded in 1989 as an alliance of advocates for affordable housing and solutions to homelessness. A regional inclusionary zoning campaign in 2004 led to the formation of a coalition that included housing advocates, civil rights advocates, environmentalists, health professionals and many others. CORE (Coalition on Regional Equity) emerged as a project of SHA in 2007. SHA works for safe, decent, accessible, affordable housing and healthy communities for homeless and low-income people through advocacy, education, leadership development and civic engagement. The Coalition on Regional Equity, a project of the Sacramento Housing Alliance, is a collaborative effort of a variety of regional organizations- land use, housing, transportation, environment, civil rights, and health. CORE advocates for regional development that is equitable, sustainable, and promotes public heath for lower income people and communities of color in the greater Sacramento region.

We focus our collaboration on the intersection of sectors, and work to integrate planning efforts to bring equity to our region. We have a vision for the Sacramento region that includes opportunities for all residents to live in communities rich with jobs, connected by transit as well as bicycle and pedestrian networks, and accessible to services and recreation. We work toward this vision through coordinated advocacy around regional planning and development, as well as through educational programs.

Sustainable Communities Work Group Land Use and Transportation Planning Principles Jobs-housing fit in all communities Compact, mixed use development Preserve natural assets and open space Prioritize transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure for existing communities over roads Expand choice of affordable homes in all communities Revitalize existing communities without displacement With the adoption of Senate Bill 375, California’s Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008, each MPO is now required to complete a Sustainable Communities Strategy, or SCS, alongside its preparation of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan, or MTP. Our coalition saw SB375 as an avenue to promote equity through land use and transportation planning, and formed a work group in early 2010 to monitor implementation and work toward the creation of equity and opportunity through planning and development efforts that result from SB 375 implementation. The Work Group brings together housing, land use, transportation, community advocates, university research partners, and meets monthly to strategize and coordinate efforts. Early on, we developed shared principles to guide our collaboration. Jobs-housing fit in all communities Compact, mixed use development Preserve natural assets and open space Prioritize transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure for existing communities over roads Expand choice of affordable homes in all communities Revitalize existing communities without displacement

Prioritizing Investment: The MTP/SCS Work Group members engaged in official MPO process Focus groups and workshops on MTP/SCS priorities, policies Development of equity and environmental justice indicators Worked with MPO staff to incorporate equity concerns Worked together to develop recommendations for a more equitable plan Submitted coordinated comments, as well as separate comment letters reflecting each organization’s focus (land use, transit, environ.) Worked with Legal Services to submit comments specific to FHEA Worked with regional and statewide partners to convene workshop to get more people involved Around 70 people attended, many of whom submitted comments The Work Group focuses its efforts on integrating equity into all planning processes associated with SB 375 implementation. This includes the MTP/SCS development, the HUD Sustainable Communities Initiative grant planning process, and other related efforts. In fall of 2010, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) and its partners received a grant from HUD for regional planning to accelerate transit-oriented development (TOD) in the Sacramento region. The first phase of the project involved assessing and selecting a limited number of Transit Priority Areas (TPAs) that would become the focus of extensive SACOG-led community planning workshops and would be eligible to receive streamlined environmental review under the provisions SB 375. This process also fed into the Environmental Justice analysis included in the MTP/SCS.   SACOG formed a Regional Consortium to engage in the planning process, involving a variety of public, private, and non-profit stakeholders. In this process, members of the Sustainable Communities Work Group participated in the Housing, Equity and Health Work Group, which met monthly in mid-2011. In addition to involvement in the MPO stakeholder process, work group members also submitted a joint comment letter on the MTP/SCS asking for specific changes and additions to bring our planning principles into the planning document. Many of the partners also submitted letters from individual organizations related to their expertise, such as walkability or affordable housing.

The HUD grant Transit Priority Area process, as well as the MTP/SCS, include an equity and environmental justice analysis. In addition to the standard categories of low-income communities and communities of color, the university research partners at UC Davis Center for Regional Change developed an opportunity index and a vulnerability index to help the MPO better analyze impacts on all communities. Members of our coalition were active in the development of these indicators, working closely the CRC. The indicators were used to help select the TPA sites with the most potential to catalyze positive investment and benefit from the environmental clearance exemptions granted in SB 375. The Opportunity index includes: Good environment, Quality housing, High neighborhood quality, Educational opportunities, Strong civic participation, Good health, Economic opportunity, Youth development.

The Vulnerability Index includes: Inadequate housing, Inadequate services, Poor neighborhood quality, Poor mobility and transportation, Poor education, Low civic participation, Poor health, Poor economic opportunities, Poor youth development Further information on the indices is available on the Center’s Mapping Regional Change website, and the URL is on my last slide. These indices provided a meaningful avenue to integrate equity considerations into the regional planning processes, allowing advocates a formal avenue to voice concerns. This process has also opened the door for further collaboration between the MPO and equity advocates.

Key Accomplishments Sustainable Communities Increased stakeholder engagement in review of and comment on SCS Achieved key revisions to policies and strategies in SCS related to housing, equity, transit access, and health Commitment from our MPO to develop better tools to analyze impacts such as displacement and gentrification Commitment from our MPO to partner on developing new health metrics, infill guidelines, and equity analysis tools in support of the next MTP/SCS (with funding from Strategic Growth Council) Throughout the regional planning processes I’ve described, equity advocates in our coalition have enjoyed a positive relationship with MPO staff. They invited us to the table early on to participate in the formative stages of the plan, and have continued to the present, engaging us in an advisory role for ongoing implementation programs. They have been open to our questions, and often contact us to get feedback on new ideas and how equity considerations factor in. We have achieved a positive relationship with our MPO through open and respectful communication. Often, advocates and agency staff can seem to be at odds, especially in jurisdictions with a history of mistrust or prior processes not adequately involving community. Staring from a position of collaboration, assuming positive intentions, and maintaining lines of communication through public processes has allowed us to benefit from the expertise and collaboration of our MPO. Similarly, our MPO staff have treated us as valued stakeholders, taking time to respond thoughtfully to questions and requests, and engaging us early in new processes. Most importantly, we see responses and changes as a result of our engagement.

Implementation- Next Steps MTP/SCS adopted in April 2012 MPO funded to continue research into health metrics, transit-oriented development loan fund, infill guidelines MPO engaging equity advocates in advisory role Work Group developing scorecard to track progress of MTP/SCS and ensure goals are met Will continue to engage in related processes, such as FHEA/AI, and SCEA With the major planning document developed, we now move our advocacy into ensuring that goals of the plans are met. The highlights of the adopted plan include: integration of land use and transportation planning in a meaningful way, support for infill development, increase in transit service and investment in bicycle and pedestrian amenities. Our work group will be developing a scorecard to monitor implementation, hopefully with the cooperation of our MPO, to track spending and achievement of goals in the MTP/SCS. We also look forward to continued engagement on a variety of related planning efforts at the regional level.

Thank you!! Kendra Bridges Land Use Policy Director Sacramento Housing Alliance (916) 455-4900 kendra@sachousingalliance.org For further information on our regional process, visit: http://www.sachousingalliance.org http://www.mappingregionalchange.ucdavis.edu http://sacog.org/sustainable/