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Housing and Economic Development <br />3-113 City Role in Affordable and Life Cycle Housing <br />Metro Cities supports both affordable housing and housing that is appropriate for <br />people at all stages of life. A variety of housing opportunities are important to the <br />economic and social well-being of individual communities and the region. Cities should <br />work with the private and nonprofit sectors, counties, state agencies and the Met Council <br />to ensure the best use of existing tools and resources to produce affordable housing. <br />Cities can facilitate the production and preservation of affordable and life cycle housing <br />by: <br />• Applying for funding from applicable grant and loan programs; <br />• Providing information on the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program to <br />landlords; <br />• Working with developers and local residents to blend affordable housing into new <br />and existing neighborhoods, including locations with access to amenities and <br />services; <br />• Expediting review processes and periodically examining local requirements and <br />processes to ensure that requirements do not inhibit the construction of affordable <br />housing; <br />• Supporting housing design that is flexible for residents at multiple stages of life; <br />• Working to reduce locally imposed development costs and policies; and <br />• Using available regulatory mechanisms to shape housing communities. <br />3-C Inclusionary Housing <br />While Metro Cities believes there are cost savings to be achieved through regulatory <br />reform, density bonuses as determined by local communities and fee waivers, Metro <br />Cities does not believe a mandatory inclusionary housing approach can achieve the <br />desired levels of affordability solely through these steps. Several cities have established <br />their own inclusionary housing policies, in some cases requiring the creation of <br />affordable units if the housing development uses public financial assistance. The <br />Metropolitan Council, in creating its affordable housing need number, must recognize <br />both the opportunities and financial limitations of cities. The Council should partner with <br />cities to facilitate the creation of affordable housing through direct financial assistance <br />and/or advocating for additional resources through the Minnesota Housing Finance <br />Agency. <br />Metro Cities supports the location of affordable housing in residential and mixed- <br />use neighborhoods throughout a city. Metro Cities supports a city's authority to <br />enact their own inclusionary housing policies at the local level. However, Metro <br />Cities does not support passage of a mandatory inclusionary housing state law <br />imposed on local governments that would require a certain percentage of units in all <br />new housing developments to be affordable to households at a particular income <br />level. <br />20 2016 Legislative Policies <br />