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Attachment V 15 <br />Affordable Housing Dialogue Sessions: Results and Recommendations <br />A Report to the Board of Aldermen from the <br />Planning Board and the Transportation Advisory Board <br />In October 2012, the Planning Board held three Affordable Housing Dialogues aimed at <br />educating and engaging the public and itself around this important issue. The sessions were the <br />first of what will become an annual observance of National Community Planning Month, <br />sponsored by the American Planning Association. Dialogue topics included: <br />• Housing Diversity and Affordability in Carrboro <br />• Financial and Systemic Issues Affecting Housing Affordability and Access in Carrboro <br />• Creative and Collaborative Solutions: Case Studies and Community Visioning <br />Turnout was good, with 71 individuals attending at least one session and an average 36 people <br />attending each night. Participants included affordable housing practitioners and advocates, <br />residents of affordable housing, neighborhood residents affected by affordability issues, <br />architects and planners, students, staff from the Town of Carrboro, Town of Chapel Hill, and <br />Orange County, advisory board members, aldermen, and county commissioners. Participants <br />offered positive and constructive feedback on evaluation forms, including suggestions for <br />outreach and publicity that will help increase racial and ethnic diversity in future events. <br />The Planning Board was grateful for the support of the Board of Aldermen throughout the <br />series, especially from the Affordable Housing Task Force. In total, four aldermen were able to <br />attend at least one session. Two partners also were extraordinarily helpful: the NC Housing <br />Coalition provided a host of research, data, and facilitation support, and the UNC Department <br />of Regional Planning provided meeting facilitation, publicity, and offers of future assistance. All <br />of this assistance was provided to the Town free of charge. <br />Presentation materials, discussion notes, and evaluation results are posted on the Town's <br />website. What follows is a summary of participant perceptions, feedback, and ideas; a set of <br />recommendations to the Board of Aldermen; and supporting data and analysis provided by the <br />Transportation Advisory Board. <br />Summary of Key Data <br />The NC Housing Coalition provided an increasingly extensive set of data to fuel conversations <br />over the three sessions. Particular discussion drivers included the following statistics: <br />Page 1 1 <br />