Last week we posted about the hope of affordable housing for all, and spoke about the large amount of people and organizations in Austin working toward that common goal. As promised, we've brought you a post today focusing on an organization and project working to provide affordable and sustainable housing options for low to middle income Austin residents. More after the jump...
Affordable Housing: The Alley Flat Initiative
Austin
The Alley Flat Initiative is a project combining the talents of the Austin Community Design and Development Center, the University of Texas Center for Sustainable Development, and the Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation to propose a new, affordable and sustainable housing alternative for Austin. Started in 2005, UT students interviewed homeowners and neighborhood leaders as well researched neighborhoods on the East Side to identify underutilized alleys in Austin. During their research, it came to light that residential lots facing these alleys were oversized and their building-to-lot ratio small. Seizing the opportunity, preliminary concepts for an alley flat initiative were born and based off of other alley flat initiatives taking place in cities like Santa Monica, Boulder, Seattle and Portland.
Homeowners who live on these narrow lots can decide to invest in the building of an alley flat to provide affordable housing while earning a little extra income and utilizing wasted space. Not everyone can take advantage of this idea, but those with lots that are eligible can get help and free design services from organizations like the Austin Community Design and Development Center. Homeowners interested in creating affordable housing, designers with services to provide, or residents who want to support the affordable housing community should check out more information on The Alley Flat Initiative website.
What do you think about The Alley Flat Initiative's efforts to create affordable housing in Austin? Do you live in a city with similiar projects taking place? Let us know!
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Affordable housing in Austin, like everywhere else, is being delivered promptly by the greatest loss in housing value since the Great Depression. I weep for projects like these. I fear we are stuck with the crap from the last 20 years.
When (if?) home-building makes sense again, I pray we have the balls (as consumers) to create demand for this stuff.
view Grather's profile
im a little confused about the whole economic crisis/ housing value thing.. as rental prices are continuing to skyrocket.
i make a decent amount of money at my full time job, and am very thankful for that.. but I still can not afford to move out of my shitty rental.
meanwhile, they are renovating the complex so they can jack up the prices.
view antimatt's profile
Some of the lots in my neighborhood -- on my street, even -- could easily hold another dwelling. I hope projects like these catch on, but there are a lot of things working against it in this economy.
view palindrome's profile
In a way there's no such thing as affordable housing anymore. The idea of affordability has been turned on its head that past several years. Maybe it's really about how much are you going to spend. So maybe affordable housing means, housing for those who have a large down payment and decent credit? I dunno. It's hard to say anything about these affordable houses with no dollar amount attached to them. And it's hard to say what value is if it changes.
view charlenemcbride's profile
Housing prices in Austin havn't dropped nearly so much as other parts of the country. (Believe me, I just bought my first house here.) That being said, what a neat idea!
view moiety's profile