4ward-TESTED FAQs

Access to Full-Service Quality Supermarkets
What is its societal importance?
How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?
What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?
Why should the public sector be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Availability and Quality of Primary Medical Facilities
What is its societal importance?
How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?
What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?
Why should the public sector be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Availability of Affordable Licensed Childcare
What is its societal importance?
How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?
What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?
Why should the public sector be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Local Municipal Financial Condition
What is its societal importance?
How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?
What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?
Why should the public sector be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Quality and Availability of Local Transit Options
What is its societal importance?
How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?
What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?
Why should the public sector be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Availability and Quality of Local Workforce Housing
What is its societal importance?
How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?
What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?
Why should the public sector be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Access to Full-Service Quality Supermarkets

What is its societal importance?

Over the past 5 decades, supermarkets have abandoned the inner city for suburban and exurban locations, which offered more land for parking, easier loading and unloading by trucks, convenient access to highways and arterials, and a development context for much larger stores. Lacking conveniently located supermarkets, low-income urban residents typically pay more for groceries in nearby convenience stores, spend more time traveling to distant supermarkets, and possibly incur other costs related to forgone consumption or poor food habits developed as a result.

Many studies have shown that low-income communities have fewer supermarkets than wealthier communities. A multi-state study found that wealthy neighborhoods had over three times as many supermarkets as low-income neighborhoods. Access also varied by race, with predominantly white neighborhoods having four times as many supermarkets than predominantly black neighborhoods. In 2000, The Food Trust, a Philadelphia based non-profit, released a report, “Food For Every Child: The Need for More Supermarkets in Philadelphia”, which found limited supermarket access in Philadelphia directly linked to a higher incidence of diet-related diseases in many low-income neighborhoods.

How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?

Empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests land related issues to be principally responsible for lack of modern, full-service supermarkets in many urban locations. These issues include:

Limited number of suitable sites to accommodate the standard big-box supermarket.
Assemblage of land parcels proves complicated, expensive and time consuming.
Site preparation costs, such as demolition of existing structures and environmental cleanup, added other costs and delays relative to suburban locations.
The dearth and cost of urban development financing, a more demanding regulatory context than outlying suburban areas, the uncertainties presented by depopulating or transitional neighborhoods, and the perceptions and realities of urban crime.

Proactive governments can change this dynamic within the context of their land-use plans by identifying and, if necessary, land banking suitably sited land parcels for supermarket anchored shopping center development. Additionally, establishing a development regulatory framework more accommodative of essential services such as a supermarket (e.g., expedited planning, zoning and incentive approvals) would also stimulate development of more supermarkets.
In April 2003, Pennsylvania passed the nation’s first statewide economic development initiative aimed at improving access to markets that sell healthy food in underserved rural and urban communities. The legislation devoted $120 million to provide grants and low interest loans to supermarkets (ostensibly, to underwrite the costs associated with store development) that meet the program’s criteria. The group is actively pushing for similar programs in Illinois, Louisiana and New York.

In addition to these statewide incentive programs, cities, nationally, have established development incentives to address this issue. For example, the Atlanta Department of Planning has solicited grocery store development in lower income neighborhoods through the packaging of a variety of incentives, including tax abatements, employee tax credits, bond financing, and low-cost ground leases ³.

What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?

The lack of full-service supermarkets costs urban communities in reduced job opportunities, fewer multiplier effects and entrepreneurship opportunities that grocery stores typically generate, and lower support for community activities.

However, the benefits of access to quality supermarkets go beyond its positive impacts on public health. For example, the construction of a full-service supermarket (approximately 50,000 square feet) typically creates between 100 and 200 permanent full- and part-time jobs, many of which provide benefits and go to local residents, and creates millions of dollars in combined sales, property and income tax revenues, annually. Further, larger supermarket formats typically saves an urban shopper 20- to 50-percent in total purchase costs, relative to smaller urban grocery sites.

Which indicator(s) should be used to evaluate past, current and future conditions?

Public and private data sources provide a variety of metrics useful for evaluating the sufficiency of supermarket access in a given community:

Estimated retail demand for grocery items to reported sales for a given area (Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Consumer Expenditure Survey and Census of Business)
Aggregate square footage of full-service supermarket space per capita in a 2-mile radius (Sources: Store interviews, Census Data and mapping software)
Population per full-service supermarket in a given municipality (Sources: Census Data and mapping software)

Why would public sector clients be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Based on the above identified prospective benefits, public sector clients are likely to invest in such analyses for several reasons:

Prospective improvement in public health in lower income communities, through the offering of greater selection of produce, meats and dairy products
Increases property tax revenues (sales tax revenues, if authorized to collect)
Increased local employment and reduction in crime
Create a catalyst for further urban revitalization.

Availability and Quality of Primary Medical Care Facilities

What is its societal importance?

In 2001, the United Stated Department of Health and Human Services reported that “there are approximately 42 million people in the United States who are uninsured and at least 48 million lack access to a regular source of health care.” Research has shown that a vast majority of those lacking accessibility to primary medical facilities and affordable healthcare live in minority and low-income urban areas. Furthermore, research findings suggest a strong linkage between primary healthcare access and the strength of a local economy.

Research from the Labor Center at the University of California at Berkeley found “the lack of health coverage has a significant effect on workers’ health and labor force participation.” People who do not have health care coverage [or access to quality, low-cost primary care] are more “likely to skip and delay needed care, less likely to receive treatment for chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes, and more likely to experience a debilitating health condition” increasing absenteeism and loss of business productivity.

As is well documented, an increasing number of employers either do not offer health coverage or are offering healthcare coverage that is no longer affordable to their workers. The Institute of Medicine estimated that if Americans had health coverage [or access to quality, low cost primary care facilities], the prospective economic gain could be between $65 million and $130 million annually. Illinois Covered, a plan which seeks to expand health care to more residents stated, “the annual cost of reduced productivity due to uninsured workers in the nation’s top 200 largest companies is estimated between $87 billion and $ 126 billion dollars.”

How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?

Primary medical care facilities are often lifelines for low-income communities where the incidence of being uninsured is particularly high. Communities around the United States have realized the need for increasing the number of Primary Medical Care Facilities, locally. In New York City, the now 20-year old Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) is innovate public-private-non-profit partnership involving the City and State of New York, several philanthropic organizations and various New York City corporations, which, collectively, have contributed capital funds for the targeting, planning and development of neighborhood primary care facilities where they are most needed. The City’s Department of Planning works closely with PCDC where land-use issues are concerned, in order to efficiently and expeditiously facilitate the development of newfacilities.

The state of Texas has offered aid up to $15,000 to primary care physicians to open practices in communities that are medically underserved. Community Development Block Grants have also been issued in Missouri to improve the quality of healthcare delivery services to local communities.

What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?

In addition to the care they provide, Community Health Centers are a significant force for local economic development. Recruiting from their local communities, New York’s Community Health Centers have created more than 20,000 jobs with a collective payroll of $250 million.‡ Additionally, healthier citizens are more productive and greater productivity increases can range into the millions, even for smaller communities.

As mentioned above, there are significant quantifiable productivity benefits to businesses when employees reduce absence from work due to illness. Avoiding such productivity losses can range from the thousands of dollars, annually, for small companies, into the millions of dollars for large corporations.

Which indicator(s) should be utilized to evaluate the past, current and future conditions?

Various national data centers, including the National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Census, and the Health Resources and
Services Administration, provide a wealth of quality metrics suitable for evaluating past, current and future conditions of primary healthcare access. The following are a few of the indicators that could be utilized in an evaluation and typically provide data down to the census tract level:

The number of emergency room visits for non emergency purposes.
Medically Underserved Areas and Medically Underserved Populations (MUA/MUP)
Health Professional Shortage Areas

Why would public sector clients be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Local and county government, at some level, share in local healthcare costs, to the extent that area public hospitals and clinics receive annual appropriations towards their operating expenses. Ensuring that the municipality or county is well served by primary medical care facilities, particularly in urban areas were emergency room visits associated with non-emergency healthcare issues, is making a wise long-term investment.

Availability of Affordable Licensed Childcare

What is its societal importance?

Scholars typically agree that investments in early childhood education (ECE) and quality after school programs are beneficial for children, families, businesses and the economy at large. The prolific research of W. Steven Barnett of Rutgers University demonstrates that when children at risk of school failure participate in intensive, high-quality programs, sizeable personal and societal benefits are realized, including higher academic achievement, fewer special education placements, reduction in crime, and improvement in social competence and health behaviors. Family care is the “invisible heart” (Folbre, 2001) that allows the private and the public economy to function.

Once believed to be a private concern, ECE and after school programs are now recognized as consequential factors in local, regional and national economies. In a 2002 longitudinal study of students from three Chicago area ECE programs, University of Minnesota researchers found that every $1 invested in ECE programs resulted in $3.78 to $10.15 of economic benefit. When working families have access to quality, affordable childcare programs, workforce participation and productivity increase dramatically, while employee turnover decreases. Dependable, quality childcare can reduces workplace turnover by 37- to 60-percent (Ransum & Burud, 1988) and employee absenteeism by 20- to 30-percent (Friedman, 1986).

How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?

Many of the nation’s municipal governments are enacting land-use policies that encourage private developers to establish or subsidize childcare facilities within their commercial or mixed-use development projects. The City of Chicago, for example, permits the use of incremental revenues within tax increment-financing (TIF) districts to underwrite a portion of the costs of on-site (within the redevelopment/development project site area) childcare services through its TIF program.

Furthermore, such land-use decisions and policies can reduce the carbon footprint left by ECE and after school programs by decreasing parental reliance on personal transportation to and from distant care facilities. On-site and local childcare facilities alleviate traffic congestion and air pollution, while encouraging public transportation usage.

What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?
The order of magnitude economic benefits can range in the millions of dollars, when issues such as higher labor force participation rates, increased tax revenue, reduced crime and criminal justice expenditures, decreased welfare expenditures, lower healthcare costs and increased business retention are considered. Two Minnesota Federal Reserve economists (Rolnick and Grunewald, 2003) concluded the annual return for quality ECE expenditures is 17 percent, a more viable investment than the stock market at 6.3 percent.

Alternately, improvement of childcare and after school programs significantly reduce business expenses incurred as a result of current deficiencies in care. Shellenback’s 2004 study estimated that local disruptions in childcare cost the national economy $3 billion annually. Working mothers are particularly affected by disruptions in care, resulting in reduced wages and inhibited career growth. The Kunz Center for Study of Work and Family found that one-fifth of Ohio’s working mothers experienced workplace disruptions due to childcare instability (1998), while another study revealed working parents missed 8 to 9 work days (businesses lost the corresponding productivity) annually due to family service malfunctions (Emlen and Koren, 1984; Carillo, 2004).

Which indicator(s) should be utilized to evaluate the past, current and future conditions?
Indicators gathered from a variety of public and private agencies are necessary in conducting comprehensive evaluations. Such contacts should include state and local human services officials, regulatory agencies, funding and administering bureaus, and resource and referral agencies. New approaches to data collection that incorporate indicator correlation are essential for economic development success.

Key indicators might include:

Published census data – demographics of childcare participants and providers
Ratio of households with pre-school age children to licensed childcare facilities
Dependent care taxes claimed
Existent local childcare industry comparisons – number of establishments, employees, customers and gross receipts
Existent level of partnership between local providers and employers
Local work patterns – particularly maternal employment trends
Aggregate square footage of childcare facilities per pre-school age children
Ratio of after school sanctioned programs per school facility

Why would public sector clients be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Based on the prospective benefits identified above, public sector clients are likely to invest in such analyses for several reasons:

Prospective reduction in municipal expenditures on public health and safety.
Greater school system efficiency as a result of fewer disruptive students.
Increase in tax and fee revenues associated with greater economic development activity.
Creation of more community service sector jobs and subsequent increase in local expenditures.
Creation of a strong quality of life for residents and businesses alike.

In a 2004 study, Clive R. Belfield of Columbia University calculated the cost savings to the New York Public School system from universal preschool programs are $555 to $828 million over the K through 12 period. In addition to the short and mid-term economic benefits of investment in quality ECE and after school programs, public sector clients need to consider the far-reaching economic benefit transfer, of such programs, on generations to come.

Local Municipal Financial Condition

What is its societal importance?

Local government’s financial condition influences its ability to maintain existing service levels for residents and businesses, withstand changes to its local and regional economy and meet the demands of natural population growth and decline. Effectively evaluating local municipal financial condition requires examination of a variety of indicator trends, including demographic, real estate, political, financial and intergovernmental. For example, population trends (decreasing or increasing over time) will have influence over local government revenue (e.g., taxes, fees, etc.) and service expenditures (e.g., police, fire and sanitation services). To the extent that revenues are insufficient to cover service expenditures, taxes could rise and/or service levels could be reduced, ultimately impacting that localities quality of life. Local government officials can best prepare their municipalities to maintain solvency (cash, budgetary, long-run and service-level) over time by continually monitoring key financial condition indicators.

How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?

There is broad evidence that smart growth, (i.e., compact, mixed-use, pedestrian friendly development) is fiscally advantageous in comparison with sprawling development. A 2004 Brookings study reviewed a number of studies, all of which found that infrastructure costs (typically one of the most expensive of government outlays), as well as operations and maintenance costs, can be reduced by more compact growth patterns. Corridor and nodal development patterns, or patterns that confine development to a limited service area, can be served more efficiently than growth that occurs in a sporadic or leapfrog pattern.

Further, integration of fiscal considerations into local land use planning is becoming increasingly critical to informing long-range development patterns, given the direct linkages between land-use activity (consumption) and service expenditures. Conducting fiscal impact analyses for proposed development projects is an important land-use policy decision which can better position local government to achieve improved financial condition.

What are the identified order of magnitude benefits?

The following are but a few examples of the order of magnitude benefits to be achieved through financial conditions monitoring:

Compact growth patterns are estimated to reduce road building outlays by 12- to 25-percent;
Capital costs associated with providing water and sewer infrastructure can be lowered by as much as 10- 80-percent, simply by increasing local residential density;
Local government operations and service delivery costs can be reduced two- to five-percent through compact development patterns;
Additional public sector capital costs for sprawling development patterns have been estimated at between $8,000 and $10,000 per dwelling unit;
Grow Smart Rhode Island estimated the 20-year cost to the state from low-density development (sprawl) to be $1.4 billion.

Which indicators should be utilized to evaluate past, current, and future conditions?

While there are a multitude of financial conditions indicators which could be evaluated, the following are a few of the likely indicators to be the most informative for assessing past, current and future municipal financial conditions:

Revenues per Capita
Warning Trend: Decreasing net operating revenues per capita

Formula: Net operating revenue (constant dollars)
Population

Examining per capita revenues shows changes in revenues relative to changes in population (households may also be substituted for population).

Intergovernmental Revenues
Warning Trend: Increasing amount of intergovernmental operating revenues as a percentage of gross operating revenues

Formula: Intergovernmental operating revenues
Gross operating revenues

Intergovernmental revenue trends (revenues received from other governmental entities (e.g., state or federal government)) merit monitoring because an overdependence on such revenues can make a local or county government more vulnerable to the vagaries of a regional or national economy than it might otherwise.

Tax Revenue Receipts
Warning Trend: Decline in Tax Revenues (constant dollars)

Formula:
Percentage change in tax revenues (constant dollars) over a five-year period

Declining tax revenues (real property, sales or income tax) is, perhaps, the most critical of all financial indicators to observe. Declining tax revenues may portend a host of underlying reasons, such as the impact of rising crime, a decline in local economic or regional fortunes, or the exodus of a few large corporate tax payers to other communities.

Why would the public sector be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

In high growth suburban areas and urban cities, alike, local governments are aware that new development may be fiscally neutral, at best. Sensitivity to per capita debt burdens and relative property tax rates has become more acute, as residents and businesses are as likely to vote with their feet as they are with the ballot.

Investing in a financial condition analysis tied to current or future land-use conditions would likely appeal to forward thinking municipal administrators and elected officials looking to reduce their borrowing costs (credit ratings are directly influenced by financial indicators), as well as improve the quality of life for their residents.

Quality and Availability of Local Transit Options

What is its societal importance?

Research indicates that transit can provide many economic, social, and environmental benefits. A study conducted by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute evaluated rail transit benefits based on a comprehensive analysis of transportation system performance in major U.S. cities. It found that cities with large, well-established rail systems have significantly higher per capita transit ridership, lower average per capita vehicle ownership, less traffic congestion, lower traffic death rates, lower consumer expenditures on transportation, and higher transit service cost recovery than otherwise comparable cities with less or no rail transit service.

Furthermore, the Brookings Institute found that transit-rich environments have a positive effect on disposable household income. These results demonstrate that strategically combining transportation and housing investments can leverage affordability and accessibility, which can drive healthier housing and transportation markets in cities.

How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?
Due to the social, environmental, and economical problems resulting from low density auto-oriented land use models (such as increased congestion and air pollution, and lack of affordable housing and access to social services), many cities are enacting land-use policies which require or incentivize private developers to build compact, affordable residential, and mixed-use development near transit. These programs help to alleviate congestion and pollution as well as provide affordable housing and increase access to social services.

What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?
A study conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Research in 2003 found the existence of public transit service in Wisconsin saves various sectors (work, healthcare, education, tourism, retail, and recreation) within the state a total of $730.17 million, while providing 98.96 million transit trips annually.

Which indicator(s) should be utilized to evaluate the past, current and future conditions?

The Affordability Index calculates the sum of average housing costs plus the average transportation costs for a neighborhood (represented by a census block group), divided by average neighborhood income. This index provides a useful tool for a variety of groups actively investing in and planning affordable and mixed-use developments. Overall, the index clearly suggests the need for improved coordination and planning between housing and transportation policies and investments.

The Transit Connectivity Index (TCI) is a measured developed by Center for Neighborhood Technology using bus and train system route and service data to estimate the quality of transit in proximity to a census tract by measuring the frequency and location of the bus and train routes and train stations. A high TCI score represents frequent and extensive transit in relation to other locations within that region.

Transit Density Requirements established by Pushkarev and Zupan (1977) create minimum residential densities requirements for areas surrounding different transit modes. These minimum densities range from 3.5 to 6.0 dwelling units per acre for dial-a-bus to 15.0 dwelling units per acre for express bus. These requirements are variable depending on geographic, demographic and management factors.

Why would public sector clients be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

Based on the above identified prospective benefits, public sector clients are likely to invest in such analyses for several reasons:

Decreased auto-related fatalities and improved public health from walking and bicycle use.
Lower transit operating costs per passenger-mile
Improved congestion management.
Catalyst for community redevelopment.
Higher property and sales tax revenues associated with increased property value and greater consumer spending due to an increase in average disposable household income.
Improved community livability due to reduced vehicle traffic, reduced air and noise pollution, improved pedestrian facilities, and greater flexibility in parking requirements and street design.

Availability and Quality of Workforce Housing

What is its societal importance?

Workforce housing provides diverse multi- and single-family housing opportunities near employment centers, and encourages employers to provide benefits that help employees become homeowners.

Maintaining an adequate stock of a variety of housing opportunities (e.g., for-sale and rental) benefits businesses by:

Accommodating housing needs of all employees.
Reducing employee turnover and hiring and training costs.

Providing for all members of the population strengthens communities by helping to maintain diversity and decreases concentrations of poverty and racial segregation. Encouraging top employees to remain with the company and community also reduces the incentive for businesses to relocate in reaction to population movement.

How can land-use decisions and policies favorably impact this issue?

Local and county governments can review and revise local plans, regulations, zoning ordinances, development regulations, and building codes to permit a wider variety of housing types and mixed-income housing to be located within the same neighborhood.

Land-use policies and ordinances allowing developers to create more units (a density bonus) than would otherwise be allowable, based on a proportion of the units (20%) remaining affordable for moderate- and low-income workers, is an additional way in which land-use decisions and policies can favorably impact the provision of workforce housing. Reduction or waiving of impact fees on new development infrastructure for projects that provide affordable or workforce housing product at acceptable levels, is yet another practical land-use tool.

Cities are using established incentive programs in innovate ways for funding workforce and affordable housing, such as Tax Increment Financing or TIF programs. Traditionally used for serving debt associated with infrastructure development, developers in Chicago and Atlanta are permitted to use a portion of TIF funding towards certain eligible development costs associated with workforce and affordable housing.

What are the identified order of magnitude economic benefits?

St. Charles based manufacturer System Sensor, Inc., the Joseph Corporation of Aurora, and the Illinois Housing Development Authority are cooperating to support employer assisted housing initiatives in Kane County. IHDA matches funds provided by System Sensor to their moderate-wage workers to help buy homes closer to work. As a result, the company reduced its employee turnover, absenteeism, and training costs by approximately $150,000 annually and recovered its entire investment in one year.

In a study published in 2005, the New Hampshire Workforce Housing Council estimated that a tight (or limited) workforce housing market will cost the state of New Hampshire, annually:

1,300 to 2,800 fewer jobs;
$57 to $121 million less personal income;
$123 to $253 million reduction in Gross State Product;
$21 to $33 million less in State and local revenues.

In a 2005 workforce housing study, the Senior Vice President for Human Resources at Tyson’s Food, Inc. stated if they lost 15-percent of their workforce having two or more years of experience, it would incur approximately $26 million in associated costs.

Which indicator(s) should be utilized to evaluate the past, current and future conditions?

The following are the most often used indicators when evaluating the housing affordability of given market areas:

Change in rental vacancy rates (quality-adjusted if possible) (metro and county)
Growth in median rents by rent quartiles v. growth in median income by income quartiles (repeat for housing prices and owner incomes) (metro and county)
Share of renters and owners spending > 30-percent and 50-percent income by income

levels and change over time (metro/county)

Number of rentals affordable at different incomes levels v. number of households with

incomes at or below those levels (metro/county)

Income needed to afford quartile/median priced home v. quartile/median income by

select occupation (metro/county) (repeat for rentals using FMR)

Share of households by income bands that can afford a median priced home (metro/county)

Why would public sector clients be willing to invest in such an evaluation?

A variety of housing opportunities promotes home ownership, a major personal wealth builder, which stabilizes and revitalizes communities and enhances the quality of life for local residents. Housing which is relatively close to employment centers also reduces commute times and cost, and has been shown to increase productivity and family time for employees. Reduced commutes also have the added benefit of reducing traffic congestion, air pollution, and wear and tear on the transportation infrastructure.