Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Housing Long Beach, and Human Impact Partners conducted a health impact assessment (HIA) of the Housing Element of the City of Long Beach General Plan. This update is required every eight years by the State of California. The HIA focused on housing affordability, quality, and location. The HIA made a number of recommendations, including that new apartment and condominium developments include a percentage of units on-site that are affordable to Long Beach residents and prioritizing these units for the lowest-income renters. The HIA also recommended establishing a Rental Trust Account Program to allow tenants in substandard homes to pay rent to the City of Long Beach until their homes are repaired. The HIA recommended that the City of Long Beach collaborate with community stakeholders when identifying proposed residential sites, and that these sites have access to public transit, recreational facilities, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Long Beach City Council was expected to consider final updates to the Housing Element in October 2013.
Supported by funding from The California Endowment.
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This Health Impact Assessment Report first appeared in The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health. The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health was originally developed by the Health Impact Project, formerly a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The creation of this resource was supported by a grant from the Health Impact Project. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
