With the CSPDC Regional Housing Study well underway, CSPDC staff alongside the Virginia Center for Housing Research (VCHR) have partnered with stakeholders around the region to form a Leadership Team that will guide the housing study process. The Leadership Team will meet every two to three months throughout the study period, which ends Spring 2024. The group will serve as an advisory board for the study process, review report drafts and data findings, and guide the study’s eventual strategies and recommendations.
The first Leadership Team meeting was held on Wednesday, August 3rd, and more than 20 stakeholders representing local government, non-profits, lending agencies, realtors’ associations, housing authorities, economic development and workforce organizations, and community services boards were present. At the first meeting, participants previewed a preliminary housing data analysis for the region and discussed potential topics for further exploration. The housing study scope allows for the inclusion of up to five additional subtopics, which the leadership group will work to identify in the coming months. The leadership group explored subtopics such as an analysis of unsheltered/unhoused individuals, housing accessibility, housing conditions, the impact of the student population, and innovations in housing.
The Leadership Team will meet again on October 26th, and will review additional data findings as well as takeaways from focus groups and interviews taking place across the region.