Car sharing and affordable housing

Twoaday and I had a brief exchange about car sharing programs and their increasing popularity with developers.

Here in Northern Virginia although many things can be developed ‘by right’ (according to the existing code), there is usually some type of give and take with the governing jurisdiction. Euphemistically called ‘proffers’, these shakedowns became egregious during the recent boom. The amount of roadway, public area, artwork, or just incomprehensible nonsense requested of developers really got out of hand. I recall one mayor in Loudoun County commenting that a town of it’s stature really deserved a statement-setting fountain. No prizes for what ‘public feature’ was placed prominently in every subsequent rendering.

Nonetheless, car sharing seems to be one of the proffers that is popular with both governments and developers. Because the shared car must usually be in a visible location, developers do not always have to provide an expensive underground space. They can stripe a surface spot for a few hundred dollars instead of the $20-35,000 an underground space would cost (depending on site work and blasting requirements). Car sharing also provides a developer with a way to negotiate a lower traffic count and reduced roadwork since shared cars by definition reduce the number of vehicles owned by residents. It also provides a nice blurb for the glossy brochure. Governments like car sharing because it provides a car to those who might not need one regularly or might not even be able to afford one, all at no cost to themselves.

HUD today released two studies about saving or coordinating transport near housing. It doesn’t really address carsharing, but it gets to an important point for low and moderate income renters: how do you get to work?