Statewide Inter-Regional Partnership Program
Inter-Regional Partnership Purpose:
In many areas of the state, job creation is far outpacing housing development
or is occurring in areas with existing housing shortages. The effects of this
job creation without commensurate housing increases the time and distance workers
must travel between home and employment. This in turn negatively affects the
environment, air quality, infrastructure, the economy and Californian's quality
of life. Conversely, in many areas of the state housing demands of commuting
workers are met in so-called bedroom communities, while developing local employment
centers (near these bedroom communities) are not all attracting the types of
industries suitable to the local workforce.
Assembly Bills 2054 and 2864 (Torlakson, 2000), established the Inter-Regional Partnership Program. The program provided grant funding to regional planning agencies such as Councils of Governments (COGs), sub-regional planning agencies, and counties collaborating with federal and state governments. These organizations partnered to evaluate the effects of disproportional economic and residential development, develop strategies to address these effects, and design realistic implementation plans involving affected jurisdictions within the region where the jobs/ housing imbalances exist. The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) awarded a total of $2.5 million in Inter-Regional Partnership Grant Program funds to eight projects by Councils of Governments for the development of mitigation strategies addressing the negative effects of substantial imbalances between jobs and housing. The requirements for the program included:
One of the most prevalent symptoms of jobs-housing imbalance is the impact on the roadway system connecting sub-areas of high housing unaffordability with sub-areas where housing is significantly more affordable. Indeed, for the majority of the other IRPs statewide, the issues that triggered interest in pursuing an IRP work program were roadway congestion and safety issues:
The Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the IRPs:
The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in the IRPs was a major component
of the program. The intention was to advance the state-of-the-art where possible,
and to utilize established and developing mapping tools to assess and help mitigate
jobs-housing imbalances. The IRPs had variations in GIS products, arising naturally
from the different resources available in each IRP and the scale of the projects.
Each IRP was expected to develop a comprehensive integrated GIS for the project area that would compare land use, demographic, economic and transportation data. GIS data included population, housing, and employment data. Traffic and transit capacity and usage, journey to work, general plan layers, and environmental data were also included in some of the integrated GIS data sets.
While each IRP's effort is described in their individual GIS summary pages (see links below), several examples include:
Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG): Created an interactive GIS website. Users can query data for the study area. This website offers data generated through the IRP project as well as provides promotional materials, work products, and regularly updated information on the progress of the IRP project. Allows members of the general public to request information and receive responses.
Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG): In a unique interactive effort, the GIS was coupled with a simulation model to enable the participants at multiple local, county and regional workshops to test various policy options and explore their benefits and impacts. The GIS displays current and future land use patterns, relative concentrations of jobs and housing, and key indicators reflecting the impact of policy changes and other implementation strategies.
Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG): The IRP produced two products allowing examination of in-fill development potential: Residential housing in the City of Los Angeles, and industrial or commercial use in the Antelope Valley. The GIS presentation of sites with infill potential is augmented with aerial photographic layers to gain further insight on identified potential sites. These tools enable housing developers, businesses, and the general public to search for available land that meets their specifications.
IRP GIS Summary Pages:
Developing IRPs are comprised of two or more COGs, or two or more
subregions within a multi-county COG, that anticipate a significant imbalance
between residential development and job-creation will occur unless concerted
efforts are made. Developing IRPs may not have dealt with multi-county regional
planning issues previously.
o Mendocino COG/Wine Country IRP
o Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments
Established IRPs are comprised of two or more COGs, or two or more subregions within a multi-county COG representing distinct (regional) planning areas, which have identified and have some experience collaborating on multi-county regional planning issues.
o Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)
o San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG/WRCOG)
o Western Riverside COG (WRCOG/OCCOG)
o Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)
o Sacramento Area COG (SACOG)
More Information:
HCD has compiled a selected
bibliography of reports, studies and articles (2.3MB PDF) related
to the issue of balancing jobs and housing.