A New Approach to Increasing Housing Affordability and Supply
Housing affordability and supply is a long-standing and growing problem in Eugene. There are two paths to housing affordability: a) stabilize the cost of housing and b) raise incomes. The latter is the continued focus of the City’s economic prosperity efforts with local partners. To stabilize housing, and more specifically, to prioritize, fund, and implement actions that will have an impact on the cost of housing, staff created the Housing Implementation Pipeline.
The City of Eugene implemented numerous policies and plans over the last several years that emphasize housing as an urgent community need and demonstrate a pro-housing agenda across the City organization. Through the 2023-2026 City of Eugene Strategic Plan, the City Council established several strategic goals related to housing and compact development:
- Mitigate the impacts of homelessness on unhoused individuals and the community
- Stabilize the cost of housing
- Increase the vibrancy, economic vitality, and livability of downtown
The actions supporting these strategic goals align closely with ongoing HIP efforts to achieve housing and homelessness outcomes, including capacity for shelter operations and supportive services, supporting efforts to preserve and construct Affordable Housing units, Permanent Supportive Housing units, and Moderate-Income Housing units, and developing an Anti-Displacement Action Plan, among many others.
The Housing Implementation Pipeline (HIP) is an internal, cross-departmental, 5-year work plan for the City organization. This work plan coordinates current and future City resources, goals, and priorities with a systems-thinking approach to housing across the full continuum from people experiencing homelessness to overall housing supply. Importantly, there are several initiatives in the HIP that will require working closely with partners to be successful.
The HIP work plan period began July 1, 2022 and concludes June 30, 2027. The HIP will be reviewed and updated on a two year schedule to occur in year 3 (2025) and year 5 (2027)
