THE MARIN COMMUNITY HOUSING ACTION INITIATIVE (MCHAI)

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The Marin Community Housing Action Initiative (MCHAI) is a unique cooperative relationship between two Bay Area nonprofit organizations, Greenbelt Alliance and the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH), in partnership with the Marin Community Foundation (MCF). Its goal is to bring together the best thinking and most innovative approaches from the affordable housing, transit, and environmental communities to dramatically boost affordable housing production throughout Marin County.

MCHAI is working to increase the rate of Marin’s housing production in locations close to transportation and address policies that have, for the past twenty years, impeded efforts to provide adequate affordable housing. It is committed to ensuring that new housing development occurs in a way that will help protect surrounding open space, create more walk-able and bike-friendly neighborhoods, and make public transportation more effective. By employing strategically coordinated research and analysis, direct advocacy, organizing, and focused communications and enforcement activities, MCHAI will help local elected officials to make decisions that improve city and county policies.

MCHAI seeks systemic and wholesale improvement, rather than piecemeal approaches to addressing the county’s housing problems. It intends to “think outside of the box” to reach a new consensus for meeting Marin County’s affordable housing and smart growth needs, rather than joining the often fractious debates around seemingly intractable land-use conflicts. MCHAI is committed to developing new approaches and new methods to uniting the environmental, social justice and development communities in a proactive effort to meet Marin County’s housing needs.

MCHAI Toolkit

Marin Toolkit (Click here to download all the pdfs listed below in one document)
Contents:
What is the Impact of Density?
What is the Impact on Property Values?
What is the Impact of Parking?
The Face of Affordable Housing in Marin
Using Housing Elements for Advocacy
Marin's Performance in Last Housing Element Cycle
Regional Housing Needs Allocation for Marin's Current Cycle

MCHAI Research Papers

Retail Case for Affordable Housing
Novato: North Redwood Boulevard

Materials from the Climate Change Training

Housing Element Energy Efficiency Policies (Word Document)
Attorney General's Comments on Proposed City of Pleasanton General Plan (PDF)
Stockton Settlement Agreement (PDF)
"Growing Cooler: Fighting Climate Change through Land-Use Planning" presented by Ellie Casson, Greenbelt Alliance (PPT)
"Analyzing Climate Impacts of Development" presented by Stephanie Reyes, Greenbelt Alliance (PPT)

Materials from the Communications Strategies Training

Dave Metz's Powerpoint: Marin County Voter Attitudes Toward Affordable Housing
Tina Duong's Powerpoint: How to Work with the Media
Tina Duong's Tips for Working with the Media (Word Document, 4 pages)