Ventura County Liveable Communities Project (Notes to Slides)
Ventura County is one of the counties in California. Being a county with a vast coastline (extending to 42 miles), it is in between Malibu and Santa Barbara surrounded by the Pacific Ocean (“County of Ventura California, 2014).
It is home to a population that is both culturally and ethnically diverse. The county’s major form of attraction is its mild climate for the whole year and the numerous geographical scenic areas around the county. As the county progresses thru the years, Ventura is now considered as rank 11 (out of 58) in terms of population (“County of Ventura California, 2014).
Its people engage in various industries like biotechnology, advanced technologies, biotechnology, tourism, oil production and military testing and development.
SLIDE 2 – Ventura County Civic Alliance
Founded in 2001, this group’s advocacy is to conceptualize and implement a more sustainable approach to the county’s development. Prior to the formation of this alliance, it was considered that the County’s approach to development was short-sighted in the sense that they were not able to foresee controllable concerns on traffic, the transportation system, affordable housing and the preservation of the environment (“Most Livable Communities”, 2009). Within the Civic Alliance are working groups that have specific tasks towards the goal of sustainable development. Two of the three groups carry out programs that are targeted towards providing sustainable housing to the community.
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The first of these 2 groups is Livable Communities Initiative which works with LGUs and other civic groups to build proper understanding and support for the incorporation of principles of a livable community into decisions concerning the County’s development.
The other one is Compact for Sustainable Ventura County. This group is in cooperation with the local governments and community leaders to facilitate group discussion in the community to reach a consensus. This group’s focus is on building both a vision and a blueprint for the County’s further development (Most Livable Communities, 2009).
SLIDE 3- Livable Communities Initiatives
This group aims to make the 10 Tenets of Livable Communities as its benchmark for projects to be implemented in every city of Ventura County. We will focus on Tenet 3, which states that there should be housing opportunities and choices.
Carried out and implemented in Ventura, specifically in Citrus Walk, this project aims to provide for housing choices for each stage of a person’s life – starting with housing choices for couples eventually needing family homes in the future and down to much simpler housing options for empty nesters. The community was very involved in the decision and planning process as they came up with an agreement with the developer for this mix of dwelling spaces plus more open spaces (Most Livable Communities, 2009).
The County also has developed “smart-growth” guidelines which will guide developers to be in the know as to what the planners of the county prefers in an ideal development. Ventura is seen to grow close to 400 units of housing each year.
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SLIDE 4 – Compact for a Sustainable Ventura County
The Compact for a Sustainable Ventura County Steering Committee, is in charge of the Phase 1 of the Compass Blueprint Demonstration Project which is underway since February 2008. The steering committee developed a set of guidelines to address 6 main points. We will focus on the housing principle which aims to provide for affordable housing to members of the community across all income levels specifically near transportation and other amenities. This can be done by providing density bonuses wherein the developer agrees to provide for a controlled number of affordable housing options (Compact for a Sustainable Ventura County, 2014).
The Compact aims to address housing affordability by ensuring that the local housing market offers housing options and choices that, at the same time, preserve quality of life. The Compact is also mindful of job-housing balance by rallying developers to build housing units near the work place and transportation facilities.
The Compact also conducted a survey to gather information as to the preference of the community with regard to housing policies.
SLIDE 5 – Ventura County’s Progress in Meeting Housing Needs (2006-2013)
This table illustrates the number of housing units per dwelling unit type from 2006 to 2013. You can see that the first year of the project contributed 36.5% (466/1276) of the total dwelling units built over the duration stated above. The next 5 years show a steep decline in units built due to the economic recession at that time.
The next table illustrates the remaining housing need by income category. By 2013, the project is 91% complete (1,276 units completed vs. 1,404 units identified as need at the start of the project) (Count of Ventura California, 2014).
References
County of Ventura California. (2014). In About Us. Retrieved from http://www.ventura.org/county-of-ventura/about-us
Ventury County Community Foundation (2014). In Ventura County’s Most Liveable Communities. Retrieved from http://www.vccf.org/programs/civicalliance/pdfs/MLCB.pdf
Ventury County Community Foundation (2014). In Phase One: A Compact for a Sustainable Ventura County. Retrieved from http://www.compassblueprint.org/Documents/CBResources/Ventura_Civic_Alliance_Sustainable_Ventura_Phase_1.pdf
County of Ventura California. (2014). In Resource Management Agency. Retrieved from http://www.ventura.org/rma/planning/pdf/plans/Exh-1-GP-Annual-Report-Final.pdf
