Housing Planning Guides  – Florida Housing Coalition

The following reports are a culmination of an extensive process to develop methods and tools that evaluate local government planning frameworks for housing hazard mitigation and resilience policies to determine how vulnerable housing stock and populations are protected from probable hazards in the Tampa Bay region. Matching findings with actions, local governments have access to information about funding opportunities applicable to prioritized housing mitigation and resilience projects. Deploying data to target a community’s vulnerabilities  in coordination with best mitigation practices allows local governments to practically apply mitigation best practice policies and strategies across various plans and departments and assists planners in proactively targeting investment.

FHC Methodology Report

FHC REACH Methodology Report Appendix

REACH Housing Mitigation Planning and Policy Framework for Florida

REACH Funding Guide

REACH Creating a Housing Resilience Strategic Plan

REACH Guide to the HUD Consolidated Plan Hazard Mitigation Element (MA-65)

REACH Energy Workshops

In April 2022, the University of South Florida FCCD+R and TBRPC held two virtual workshops to discuss energy inefficiency and energy burdens facing low income residents.

Energy Workshop #1 April 13, Defining Energy Issues and Needs

This workshop included a presentation on risks and conditions, and stakeholders shared information about current projects and issues, and the agenda item “Making the case for energy efficiency improvements and identifying roadblocks”. Watch the recorded webinar.

Energy Workshop #2 April 25, Funding and Implementation Strategies

In the second workshop, agenda items included: Retrofits for public and privately owned housing, Breakout Session: Funding and implementation, Strategies for tracking success, and Big Idea report out and suggestions for next steps.

READ the Report: USF prepared a summary report of the workshops, including case studies and recommendations for local programs.

Community Vulnerability Assessment (Coming Soon)

The REACH Community Vulnerability Assessment Guide defines a scalable vulnerability assessment process with recommendations for specific variables to improve local vulnerability and resiliency.  This guidebook will provide municipalities with a consistent process to identify stressors that will negatively impact adaptive capacity and recovery. 

This guidebook is a decision support tool designed to help local governments conduct exposure and sensitivity analysis focused on two major community components — people and housing.

This guide will help local governments to identify how current and future hazard risks impact; 

• Social vulnerable populations; 
• Current and future housing needs through mapping existing housing resources and repetitive loss properties; 
• Existing affordable housing with mitigation potential; and 
• Areas where new housing could be developed for long-term safety and resilience. 

With this Guide, staff can support interdepartmental information sharing and resilience planning to maximize resources and provide multiple benefits. The ability for a community to prepare for stressors and shocks in advance of a threat or change and recover is its Adaptive Capacity. Expanding the adaptive capacity of communities, especially concerning affordable housing is a main goal and benefit of this Community Vulnerability Assessment Guide.

Hillsborough Case Study: In April of 2018, Hillsborough County enlisted USF’s Florida Center for Community Design and Research and the School of Public Health to work on the  Hillsborough County Peril of Flood Act Matrix of Impacts Initiative, the County’s  Community Vulnerability Study, and subsequent mitigation recommendations.  This sequence of work was designed to inform and to satisfy requirements for the Perils of Flood Act (SB 1094) and the Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Chapters  3 and 4. The Hillsborough project illuminated the importance of coordinating policy efforts, timing, and content. By assessing community-wide vulnerabilities,  it became clear that continuity between data sourcing and between regional municipalities would potentially streamline the process and help Tampa Bay communities quantify shared resources and challenges. Among the lessons learned throughout the Community Vulnerability Study (CVS),  was to view community elements through the lens of layered data sets. Integrated data layers tell us more than one issue at a time,  highlighting the compounding effects of chronic stressors and shocks.

New Housing Flood Mapper and GIS Methodology Supports Consistent Data and Imagery

Accurate, transparent, reliable data are crucial to vulnerability assessments and developing plans. Establishing common criteria and using consistent symbology is needed to support public understanding and comparison across jurisdictions. The REACH project is supporting development of new tools that will enhance local government efforts to quantify current and future flood risks to housing stock. These tools and the data will lead to targeted housing rehabilitation strategies, inform construction goals and support development of land-use policies.

Workshop May 26, Conducting Vulnerability Assessments for Affordable Housing

The researchers at the University of Florida Shimberg Center for Housing Studies and TBRPC released information from the new regional reports which defines risks to affordable housing in each Tampa Bay Regional Resilience Coalition. The team also provided training and tips on using the new REACH Coastal Flood Risk web mapping tool and database developed in collaboration. The new tools help local governments and organizations easily and quickly identify buildings and populations potentially impacted by hurricanes and future sea level rise.

HOUSING CASE STUDIES

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