Affordable Housing Needs Assessment for the District of Columbia

NeighborhoodInfo DC conducted a two phase affordable housing needs assessment for the DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. In the first phase we examined the District of Columbia’s Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) program through interviews, document review, and data analysis. The IZ program has great potential to help expand the city’s supply of affordable housing, particularly in neighborhoods undergoing rapid development. While the overall design of DC’s IZ program seems sound, we believe that adopting the proposed IZ administrative regulations will help developers, renters, and owners save time and improve their understanding of the program and its requirements.

For the second phase, DMPED requested an affordable housing needs assessment to measure, quantify, and qualify the need for affordable housing within each ward and neighborhood cluster; to quantify the need to preserve and construct housing units appropriate to meet the needs of DC residents now and in the future; and to help guide investment decisions in affordable housing by the city.