Doesn't new higher density housing development increase traffic?
Higher density development located in urban areas with good public transit service and stores and offices in close proximity can actually help reduce traffic by allowing people to walk more and use public transit — rather than drive. Also, people who live in affordable housing own fewer cars and therefore drive less than the general population. In Los Angeles, seven out of every ten rental households has one car or no car at all. Fewer cars mean less traffic.
» Learn more about the factors behind traffic congestion
» Find out how many people really own cars in Los Angeles
Won't high density affordable housing increase crime?
Although researchers have looked for a link between high-density housing and crime, not one study has shown any relationship between population density or housing density and violent crime rates. In looking at non-violent crime, the effect of density is insignificant once residents' incomes are taken into account. In other words, lower income neighborhoods have more crime, regardless of density.
The real difference between problem properties and buildings that are good neighbors in a community is professional, on-site property management. In many Los Angeles neighborhoods, crime problems are often harbored in low-density single family homes that are being rented out by absentee landlords. Other evidence of the significance of property management includes run-down problem apartment buildings that were repaired and "turned around" by non-profit developers. The key is preventing crime is property management, not lowering density.
Does affordable housing reduce nearby property values?
No study in California has ever shown that affordable housing development reduce property values.
As any Realtor® will tell you, the most important factor in determining property values is "location, location, location". If we could place the exact same apartment building on the same size lot in both Westwood and in Skid Row, the Westwood building would be worth much more because it would be located in a more affluent community.
Architecture and property maintenance can also influence property values. We have many examples in Los Angeles of affordable housing developers converting run-down apartment buildings into high quality affordable housing that becomes an asset to the neighborhood.
Won't high density development strain public services?
New higher density residential development in established communities requires less public infrastructure investment than new low-density subdivisions built on the urban fringe, because the infrastructure is already there. The higher density allows economies of scale for both the public infrastructure and the private developer. Building low density housing creates the need to build new infrastructure, and spreads limited tax dollars over a wider area.
Higher density can also be part of revitalizing stagnant commercial districts because the immediate customer base grows. With increased sales come increased tax revenues that help local government pay for infrastructure improvements.
