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Ashland Housing Production Strategy

The City is working on a Ashland Housing Production Strategy to increase Ashland’s range of housing options for households at all income levels. As part of this process, the City is interested in hearing from Ashland's residents so that more effective and widely accepted solutions can be created.

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100 registered responses


In which type of housing do you currently live?

Response Percent Response Count
Apartment 18.0% 18
Dupex 1.0% 1
Townhome 8.0% 8
Single Family Home 58.0% 58
Condominium 3.0% 3
Manufactured or Mobile Home Park 7.0% 7
Group Housing (ie Dormitories, Senior Assisted Living, Supported housing) 1.0% 1
Currently un-housed (tent or car camping, etc. ) 2.0% 2
Living in temporary or transitional housing for unhoused persons 2.0% 2

How long have you lived in Ashland?

Response Percent Response Count
2 years or less 16.0% 16
3-5 years 20.0% 20
6-10 years 12.0% 12
11-20 years 20.0% 20
More than 21 years 32.0% 32

Which of the following best describes your current housing situation?

Response Percent Response Count
Homeowner 52.5% 52
Renter 30.3% 30
Living with others and contributing to rent or mortgage payment 12.1% 12
Living with others but not paying rent or mortgage 1.0% 1
Living without regular or stable shelter (i.e. camping, living in vehicle or RV/travel trailer, couch surfing, living in a hotel , etc.) 4.0% 4

What barriers have you personally faced when renting or buying housing in Ashland? (Select all that apply)

Response Percent Response Count
Price range: There are no available rentals or properties for sale within my price range 92.3% 72
Size: Housing that is available is not the right size for my needs (ie. not enough bedrooms or bathrooms) 25.6% 20
Housing purchase: financing requirements were too difficult to qualify (credit, income, down payment, association dues) 25.6% 20
Housing purchase: Lost competition between multiple bidders to purchase home, or out-bid by cash-offer 19.2% 15
Housing rental: Lost competition between multiple rental applicants 41.0% 32
Housing rental: Problems with credit history or rental history such as prior evictions 6.4% 5
Housing rental: Not able to afford application fees, required first & last month's rent, and/or security deposit 34.6% 27
Housing rental: Rental only available for a short time, seasonal, not full year, short term lease 21.8% 17
Housing rental: Pets not being permitted or insufficient space for pets 43.6% 34
Discrimination: Denied housing due to any of the following: physical disability, mental health status, having a service animal, race, national origin, sex/gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, age, religion, or source of income 12.8% 10

Of the barriers listed above which one do you think is the biggest problem in Ashland? (pick one)

Response Percent Response Count
Price range: There are no available rentals or properties for sale within my price range 82.8% 72
Housing purchase: Lost competition between multiple bidders to purchase home, or out-bid by cash-offer 4.6% 4
Housing rental: Lost competition between multiple rental applicants 4.6% 4
Housing rental: Problems with credit history; or rental history such as prior evictions 1.1% 1
Housing rental: Rental only available for a short time, seasonal, not full year, short term lease 2.3% 2
Housing rental: Pets not being permitted or insufficient space for pets 1.1% 1
Discrimination: Denied housing due to any of the following: physical disability, mental health status, having a service animal, race, national origin, sex/gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, age, religion, or source of income 3.4% 3

Please provide any additional comments you would like to share regarding barriers to finding safe, quality, and affordable housing you have experienced within Ashland (optional).

Answered
56
Skipped
44

You've got 15 dots to 'spend'. Please spend them on prioritizing the following housing issues with more dots spent on the issues most important to you.

Response Percent Response Count
Accessibility for persons with disabilities, ADA compliance 3.8% 56
Cost of Home Ownership / Buying a Home 17.0% 248
Cost to rent housing 23.9% 348
Discrimination in housing 4.5% 65
Energy efficiency/environmental impact 6.4% 93
Housing type options and availability 10.0% 145
Lack of housing for persons who have jobs in Ashland, “workforce housing” 17.0% 248
Safe, healthy, well-maintained housing 5.2% 76
Too little growth, promote more new construction 5.8% 85
Too much growth, reduce new construction 2.9% 42

Look at the strategies listed below and indicate whether you think that idea would improve housing options for residents of Ashland:

Allow more “infill,” and “density,” allow building dwellings on smaller lots, closer together, etc.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 46.0% 46
some difference 37.0% 37
little or no difference 11.0% 11
No Opinion 4.0% 4
Areas zoned for multifamily and high density housing (like apartments or townhouses) should not allow new single-family housing construction in those zones.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 47.0% 47
some difference 30.0% 30
little or no difference 7.0% 7
No Opinion 10.0% 10
Create policy that supports the construction different types of homes and broadens what is acceptable as a “dwelling unit:” Examples: cottages, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, triplexes, manufactured home parks, tiny homes, 3D printed homes, domes, repurposed cargo containers, etc.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 61.0% 61
some difference 25.0% 25
little or no difference 9.0% 9
No Opinion 2.0% 2
Collect a “vacancy tax” or “empty dwelling fee” on housing that is unoccupied for long periods of time when not available for rent or purchase. Use revenue to support affordable housing.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 48.0% 48
some difference 24.0% 24
little or no difference 21.0% 21
No Opinion 5.0% 5
Collect a tax on new residential or commercial construction permits within the City and use that revenue to help fund affordable housing and shelter needs (Construction Excise Taxes).
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 32.0% 32
some difference 30.0% 30
little or no difference 22.0% 22
No Opinion 9.0% 9
Expand the City’s urban growth boundary bring more land into the city to accommodate future housing development.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 26.0% 26
some difference 29.0% 29
little or no difference 29.0% 29
No Opinion 11.0% 11
Free up more land for housing by reducing the numbers of required parking spaces.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 16.0% 16
some difference 29.0% 29
little or no difference 35.0% 35
No Opinion 14.0% 14
Identify additional funding sources to support the Ashland Affordable Housing Trust Fund that awards funds to developers or non-profits who can build new affordable housing.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 52.0% 52
some difference 28.0% 28
little or no difference 13.0% 13
No Opinion 3.0% 3
Limit the number of vacation rentals as well as limiting the converting existing housing into vacation rentals.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 60.0% 60
some difference 13.0% 13
little or no difference 21.0% 21
No Opinion 5.0% 5
Make it easier to build mixed-use buildings that containing both housing and shops/offices in the same building.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 48.0% 48
some difference 36.0% 36
little or no difference 10.0% 10
No Opinion 6.0% 6
Promote building larger apartment buildings with more units per acre, or taller, multi-story buildings (3-5 stories), increasing density.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 44.0% 44
some difference 29.0% 29
little or no difference 18.0% 18
No Opinion 4.0% 4
Require private developers to include a percentage of affordable housing units in projects that would contain more than 20 dwelling units, referred to as “Inclusionary zoning”.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 61.0% 61
some difference 22.0% 22
little or no difference 12.0% 12
No Opinion 2.0% 2
Sell surplus city-owned land and then use the proceeds from those sales to fund strategies for constructing more affordable housing.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 29.0% 29
some difference 32.0% 32
little or no difference 22.0% 22
No Opinion 13.0% 13
Support using city-owned land for the construction of affordable housing.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 54.0% 54
some difference 27.0% 27
little or no difference 12.0% 12
No Opinion 5.0% 5
Support and fund non-profit organizations that help residents in finding and paying for housing to rent and purchase.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 49.0% 49
some difference 30.0% 30
little or no difference 16.0% 16
No Opinion 2.0% 2
Support and fund non-profit organizations who build new housing that people of varied income levels can afford.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 57.0% 57
some difference 31.0% 31
little or no difference 8.0% 8
No Opinion 1.0% 1
Support and fund organizations that serve un-housed populations and help houseless people get into more stable housing; for example more units of supportive housing.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 54.0% 54
some difference 29.0% 29
little or no difference 14.0% 14
No Opinion 1.0% 1
Support the preservation of existing manufactured home parks (also called mobile-home parks).
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 56.0% 56
some difference 27.0% 27
little or no difference 11.0% 11
No Opinion 4.0% 4
Support the development of a new manufactured home parks.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 43.0% 43
some difference 32.0% 32
little or no difference 16.0% 16
No Opinion 6.0% 6
Support incentives such as loans or grants for private owners of existing rental housing to repair, maintain, upgrade and make their housing more energy efficient and environmentally sound.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 43.0% 43
some difference 24.0% 24
little or no difference 18.0% 18
No Opinion 10.0% 10
Support the purchase of property by the City to be used for affordable housing development, for example, to create a Community Land Trust/Land Bank.
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 45.0% 45
some difference 32.0% 32
little or no difference 11.0% 11
No Opinion 7.0% 7
Support a property tax exemption that would give developers an incentive to build multi-family housing for middle & lower income households (example: Multiple Unit Property Tax Exemption)
Response Percent Response Count
significant positive difference 36.0% 36
some difference 33.0% 33
little or no difference 14.0% 14
No Opinion 9.0% 9

Please provide any additional comments you would like to share regarding the strategic actions listed in the prior questions (optional).

Answered
56
Skipped
44

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Accessibility for persons with disabilities, ADA compliance

Cost of Home Ownership / Buying a Home

Cost to rent housing

Discrimination in housing

Energy efficiency/environmental impact

Housing type options and availability

Lack of housing for persons who have jobs in Ashland, “workforce housing”

Safe, healthy, well-maintained housing

Too little growth, promote more new construction

Too much growth, reduce new construction

significant positive difference
some difference
little or no difference
No Opinion
Allow more “infill,” and “density,” allow building dwellings on smaller lots, closer together, etc.
Areas zoned for multifamily and high density housing (like apartments or townhouses) should not allow new single-family housing construction in those zones.
Create policy that supports the construction different types of homes and broadens what is acceptable as a “dwelling unit:” Examples: cottages, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, triplexes, manufactured home parks, tiny homes, 3D printed homes, domes, repurposed cargo containers, etc.
Collect a “vacancy tax” or “empty dwelling fee” on housing that is unoccupied for long periods of time when not available for rent or purchase. Use revenue to support affordable housing.
Collect a tax on new residential or commercial construction permits within the City and use that revenue to help fund affordable housing and shelter needs (Construction Excise Taxes).
Expand the City’s urban growth boundary bring more land into the city to accommodate future housing development.
Free up more land for housing by reducing the numbers of required parking spaces.
Identify additional funding sources to support the Ashland Affordable Housing Trust Fund that awards funds to developers or non-profits who can build new affordable housing.
Limit the number of vacation rentals as well as limiting the converting existing housing into vacation rentals.
Make it easier to build mixed-use buildings that containing both housing and shops/offices in the same building.
Promote building larger apartment buildings with more units per acre, or taller, multi-story buildings (3-5 stories), increasing density.
Require private developers to include a percentage of affordable housing units in projects that would contain more than 20 dwelling units, referred to as “Inclusionary zoning”.
Sell surplus city-owned land and then use the proceeds from those sales to fund strategies for constructing more affordable housing.
Support using city-owned land for the construction of affordable housing.
Support and fund non-profit organizations that help residents in finding and paying for housing to rent and purchase.
Support and fund non-profit organizations who build new housing that people of varied income levels can afford.
Support and fund organizations that serve un-housed populations and help houseless people get into more stable housing; for example more units of supportive housing.
Support the preservation of existing manufactured home parks (also called mobile-home parks).
Support the development of a new manufactured home parks.
Support incentives such as loans or grants for private owners of existing rental housing to repair, maintain, upgrade and make their housing more energy efficient and environmentally sound.
Support the purchase of property by the City to be used for affordable housing development, for example, to create a Community Land Trust/Land Bank.
Support a property tax exemption that would give developers an incentive to build multi-family housing for middle & lower income households (example: Multiple Unit Property Tax Exemption)
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