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NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS
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| Benefits of Apartments |
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Apartment communities help meet the housing needs of a rapidly growing population in the North Texas county of Tarrant, according to the head of the local apartment association. As in many cities, however, local policy-makers oppose apartments, because they believe certain myths about multifamily communities, according to Marlene Walker.
For example:
- It is a myth that apartments diminish adjacent property values -- an Urban Land Institute report found that between 1987 and 1995 the average annual appreciation for single-family houses within 300 feet of an apartment community was 3.12 percent, compared to 3.19 percent for houses not near apartments.
- It is a myth that apartments are a detriment to attracting business to a city: a 1998 National Association of Home Builders study found that the construction of a 100-unit apartment community results in 122 new jobs, $579,000 in local taxes and fees and $5.2 million in income to local business.
- It is a myth that apartment populations overwhelm local schools: on a unit-by-unit basis, single-family homes have three times as many school-age children as apartments, says Walker.
Furthermore, contrary to myth, apartments aren't synonymous with "public housing," says Walker:
- Participation in federally subsidized housing programs is not mandatory unless developers use government money to acquire or finance multifamily properties -- in which case they are typically required to set aside a certain percentage of units for Section 8 low income housing.
- Additionally, nonprofit apartment owners known as community housing development organizations (CHDOs) do not pay property taxes.
Source: Marlene Walker, "Apartment mythology," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, March 10, 2004.
For text
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/8150370.htm
For more on Urban Land Use
http://eteam.ncpa.org/policy/Land_Issues/Urban_Land_Use/
For more on State & Local Land Use
http://www.ncpa.org/iss/sta/
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