Volume 17, Issue 4 

2006

 

John D. Landis, Heather Hood, Guangyu Li, Thomas Rogers, and Charles Warren

 

This article presents a methodology for using county tax assessor records
and other geographic information system and secondary source data to
develop realistic estimates of community, county, and statewide infill housing
potential in California. We first identify the number, acreage, average size, and
spatial distribution of vacant and potentially redevelopable parcels within three
types of infill counting areas. We then develop a schema for determining appropriate infill housing densities based on transit service availability, local land use mix and character, and initial neighborhood densities.

We use this schema to generate local, county, and statewide estimates of
infill housing potential. These are then carefully evaluated in terms of their
parcel size and financial feasibility, the likelihood that construction will
displace existing low-income renters, and the contribution to cumulative
overdevelopment. We conclude with a brief discussion of state-level policy
changes that would reduce barriers to market-led infill housing construction.