| Impacts
of the IRP Jobs/Housing Opportunity Zones |
|
As implementation
of development in the Zones occurs, the five-county IRP
area is expected to:
· Produce over 8,350 new housing
units will be produced. Of these 1,500 will be affordable
to low- and moderate- income families.
·
Create over 38,000 new jobs will be created in the four
Zones located in the Central Valley counties of Stanislaus
and San Joaquin, including the cities of Patterson, Stockton,
Tracy, and Modesto.
·
Create over 28,800 new jobs will be developed in the eastern-most
portion of the Bay Area, where affordable housing is abundant
and jobs are scarce.
The Jobs/Housing
Opportunity Zones and the positive impacts on the five-county
IRP area are described on the following pages.
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| Road
to Success |
It
is envisioned that by July 31, 2004, each Zone will have had
the opportunity to take advantage of a wide variety of special
incentives that will have contributed to the success of individual
development projects and in turn this inter-regional effort
to improve the jobs-housing imbalance. The individual development
projects will result in housing being built where there is
an existing shortage of units and jobs will have been created
where now only housing exists. The key to making these Zones
successful, however, is the incentives. The Inter-Regional
Partnership is seeking the state's assistance in bringing
customized, unique incentives to the Jobs/Housing Opportunity
Zones. Incentives that will pave the way include:
· Childcare Tax Credits
· Industrial Development Bonds
Priority
· Multi-Family Housing Tax Credits
· Targeted Tax Area Status
· Tax Increment Financing |
|
To
meet the challenge of bringing jobs and housing
closer together, a coalition of counties and cities from
Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, and Stanislaus
Counties formed the Inter-Regional Partnership (IRP). The
IRP pursued legislation to create a pilot project that would
test whether or not land use patterns could be changed through
the use of directed incentives. Incentives would be directed
to ten "Jobs/Housing Opportunity Zones" throughout the five
participating counties. The incentives would be designed
to encourage jobs to be developed in those Zones located
in "housing-rich" areas, and housing to be built in existing
job centers.
In 1999, Assembly
Member (now Senator) Tom Torlakson championed the pilot
project legislation, and with bi-partisan support, Assembly
Bill 2864 was signed by the Governor in 2000. The resulting
Inter-Regional Partnership State Pilot Project to Improve
the Balance of Jobs and Housing now serves as a local laboratory
to determine whether or not the location of jobs and/or
housing can be influenced through the use of focused incentives.
|
| Selection
of Zones |
| In
the summer of 2002, ten Jobs/Housing Opportunity Zones were
selected through a rigorous evaluation process designed to
identify and select the best opportunities to improve current
development patterns. Zones were selected to encourage economic
investment and job creation near available housing, and to
increase housing development near major employment centers.
Most importantly, the Zones were evaluated on their ability
to interact with the entire five-county area and their ability
to address an inter-regional problem. The Zones selected represent
an integrated, inter-regional approach, developed by local
government collaboration, and designed to improve the jobs
to housing ratio and the lives of residents in the five county
IRP area. |
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