2015 Theses Master's

Visualizing Affordability: Testing Whether Low-Income Housing Tax Credits Produce the Housing Architecture that Planners Desire, and Envisioning a Better Future

Erwin, Peter

This research addresses three related questions. What are the standards that constitute good affordable housing architecture today? Do buildings in New York that are financed with low-income housing tax credits meet those standards? And finally, are the architectural similarities among tax credit buildings the result of specific aspects of the tax credit policy? Criteria derived from historical and contemporary literature, current residential design competitions and awards, and independent policy reports are used to assess thirty-seven recently constructed, affordable housing projects that were financed with low income housing tax credits. The low-income housing tax credit legislation is studied in order to connect the architectural similarities among the thirty eight properties to aspects of the policy itself. The policy analysis is then accompanied by three expert interviews: two with private housing developers and one with a New York City public official.