Rethinking Locational Outcomes for Housing Choice Vouchers: A Case Study in Duval County, Florida

Abstract

This study examines locational patterns of housing choice vouchers in Duval County, Florida, using the Housing Suitability Model (HSM), a newly developed geographic information system–based model that evaluates residential land parcels and neighborhoods in terms of their suitability for affordable housing. The HSM was used to characterize voucher locations and other residential parcels across the county in terms of opportunity and accessibility. The analysis explores the tradeoffs between opportunity and accessibility inherent in many neighborhoods throughout the county. It finds that voucher holders' locations lag substantially behind other residential locations in terms of opportunity measures but are more comparable in terms of accessibility. Further analysis finds differences in opportunity and accessibility among subgroups of voucher holders by various demographic characteristics. The study recommends the incorporation of opportunity and accessibility for voucher holders into local housing planning, including the implementation of proposed rules for Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.

Keywords::

• housing choice voucher
• locational outcome
• accessibility
• suitability

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Jacksonville Housing Authority, especially Larry Gonzalez and Winnie Anderson; assistance with data files from the Crime Analysis Unit of Jacksonville Sheriff's Office; and the technical expertise of Abdulnaser Arafat, Caleb Stewart, and Ammar Naji from the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida.

The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The authors and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government.

Notes

^1. An introduction to the HSM is available in the Evidence Matters newsletter from HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R): http://www.huduser.org/portal/periodicals/em/summer13/highlight2.html (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, 2013).

^2. For instance, if a multi family project has 100 units with a just value (market value) of $10 million, and the just value for homesteaded units is $6 million, the number of owner-occupied units in this property is 100 units ^* ($6 M/$10 M), or 60 units, leaving 40 units (100 − 60) as renter occupied.

^3. Based on the American Community Survey (2012) 1-year estimate, there are a total of 133,063 occupied rental units in the county, and the rental vacancy rate is 9.7%. This provides a total estimate of 147,356 rental units (133,063/(1 − 0.097)).

^4. This benchmark is set to represent the size of a neighborhood, and is derived from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey's average walking distance for low-income households ( < $40,000 annual income) in northeast Florida to all trip destinations.

^5. The effective age of a building is the actual age adjusted for major building improvements, such that more recent improvements reduce the age of the building more significantly.

^6. The Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) dataset includes the LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), which provides three categories of job counts by wage level: low-wage job that pays $1,250 per month or less, moderate-wage job that pays between $1,250–3,330 per month, and high-wage job that pays $3,330 per month or higher.

^7. A detailed introduction to the Housing Suitability Model is available at the Shimberg Center's website: http://www.shimberg.ufl.edu/fl_housingSuitableModel.html (Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, 2013).

^8. The census boundary effect is the biased influence caused by the boundary of a census block group when a voucher location is on the periphery of this block group. To avoid this, the technique of using floating catchment areas allows voucher locations on the edge of the block group boundary to capture the characteristics of neighboring block groups that fall in the buffer zone.

^9. Figure 5 characterizes all parcels in Duval County, Florida, into four location categories using the combined accessibility and opportunity categories described in Figure 2.

^10. Figure 6 shows the geographic distribution of existing voucher units, as well as potential voucher units, all rental units, and all housing units.

^11. Because Jacksonville has a unified city–county government, the first-ring suburbs are not separate municipalities, as in most metropolitan areas. Rather, they represent a 20th-century, moderate-density phase of development sandwiched between the dense urban core and historic neighborhoods associated with the city's initial development and the recent, low-density waves of home construction found in Duval and adjacent counties.

^12. Specifically, the plan recommends developing mixed-income apartment complexes and allowing incentives for a limited number of higher income households to occupy public housing buildings where extremely low-income households currently dominate.

^13. Note that the Shimberg Center, with which two of the authors of this article are affiliated, was involved in the development of the Jacksonville AI and Consolidated Plan.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [RP-13-FL-002].

Notes on contributors

Ruoniu Wang,

Ruoniu Wang is a doctoral student and a research assistant at the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida. His research interests include information technology for planning, land use and transportation planning, and international planning. Wang holds a bachelor of engineering in planning and design from the Sichuan University and a master's degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Florida.

Kristin Larsen,

Kristin Larsen, AICP, PhD (Cornell University), MAURP (University of Florida), BSBA (University of Florida), is an associate professor at and the director of the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, and the director of the first fully online graduate degree in planning. As part of a collaborative research team, she developed a flexible spatial model to identify and assess the suitability of sites for affordable housing development and preservation. Her specialties include housing policy, neighborhood planning, urban and planning history, and historic preservation. Her publications include peer-reviewed articles for Housing Studies, Housing Policy Debate, Planning Perspectives, and Planning History, and she is currently working on a biography of Clarence Stein.

Anne Ray

Anne Ray is the manager of the Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse at the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies. Her research interests include data for neighborhood stabilization, preservation of affordable rental housing, energy efficiency in assisted multifamily developments, public housing, the housing needs of persons with disabilities, and farmworker housing. Ray holds a bachelor of arts in history from the University of Michigan and a master's degree in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.