Davis, California is a diverse and dynamic city incorporated in 1917 and located between Sacramento and San Francisco in California's Central Valley. As the home of the University of California, Davis, the city combines an environment rich in agriculture, research, the arts, business and community service. Well known as an innovator in recycling and alternative transportation, Davis boasts an exceptionally high bicycle use rate and creative land use for parks, open space and affordable housing.
The City of Davis Consolidated Plan is a summary of ideas and activities aimed at increasing housing and other opportunities for low-income residents. The city will use public, private and volunteer resources to offer shelter, food, health care, housing and other critically needed services to seniors, children and homeless residents. Davis will use $972,000 in Federal Community Development Block Grant funds and will average over $20,000,000 in other private and public resources to complete these activities.
The Davis Consolidated Plan was developed with input from a broad base of
local residents. Some of the methods included a survey of 1,000 income
residents, interviews with social service agencies, committees that were meeting
to revise the City General Plan, ideas and suggestions from the local Social
Services Commission and information from "Envisioning Davis," a series
of interviews and surveys used to revise the General Plan. There were five
public hearings held in the development of the plan.
Davis, California is a municipal corporation, incorporated in 1917 from the former community called Davisville. Historically a rail intersection in the fertile Central Valley, Davisville was selected as the site of the agriculture institute that became the University of California, Davis (UCD). The city has 51,366 residents and a student population of 25,000 from UCD which is adjacent to the city. The city is transversed by the east-west Interstate 80 and its west end is divided by State Route 113.
Like the rest of Yolo County, Davis is experiencing moderate growth among the general population, but notably larger growth among elderly and non-English speaking immigrants. While the majority of the city's population is White (79.7), other population groups include Black (3.1), American Indian (0.7), Asian (13.2), Latino (7.4) and Other groups (3.3) which include a diverse international population attracted by the University.
In 1994, the median family income was $45,100. Forty-five percent of all
households in Davis were low and moderate income (with incomes below 80% of
median family income) in 1990. Minority population groups were all
disproportionally represented in the low and moderate income groups.
The University, city and school district are three of the top ten employers in the City of Davis. Agriculture, research and service businesses comprise the remainder of the largest employers.
Economic conditions have varied in the past ten years. Like the rest of Northern California, Davis is experiencing a low but steady level of economic growth.
The two critical housing needs identified in the General Plan and highlighted in the Consolidated Plan are excessive rent burden and overcrowding. It is expected that over 2,300 units need to be built to meet the housing needs of very-low, low and moderate income residents by the year 2000. More units at affordable rent levels are expected to relieve both overpayment and overcrowding problems.
The City of Davis had 17,294 units in 1990, of which 98.1 percent were occupied. Owners occupied 40 percent of the units and renters occupied 58.1 percent. Vacancy rates have increased slightly since 1990 due to the decline in housing prices and increased availability of units.
Davis has a moderate growth rate and has experienced slow rates of growth in housing inventory since 1990. The city's newest planning area, Mace Ranch in East Davis, has developed for-sale single-family homes at a slow rate. Infill affordable housing projects have been built in Mace Ranch, South Davis, West Davis and North Davis since 1990.
The City of Davis has an extensive Resale/Retrofit program, which requires that housing units be inspected upon resale and brought up to building code standards, has worked to keep existing stock in good condition. In 1993, city staff conducted a survey covering all areas of the city. Staff discovered eight units in need of rehabilitation and no units requiring replacement.
Almost all of the single-family housing in Davis is beyond the price range of low-income households. Multi-family housing construction, some of which has been subsidized by CDBG and other public resources, has resulted in over 600 new, affordable units since 1990. At least 1,700 additional units need to be built in Davis by the year 2000. Land contributed by developers and dedicated for affordable housing will be in limited supply during the next five years, but it is hoped that at least 250 new units will be completed.
At any given time, up to 73 people are homeless in Davis. There are also a projected 200-300 hundred individuals at immediate risk of homelessness because of excessive rent burden and overcrowding. Many residents have Davis because of high rental costs.
Six Davis organizations attempt to meet the needs of homeless residents. The continuum of care includes emergency shelter, transitional housing and services, affordable housing, health care, supportive services (food, job coaching) and programs that attempt to prevent homelessness (respite care, hospices, adult day health care.) The city participates in a county- wide project to coordinate homeless services and the provision of cold weather shelters. Shelters are available for single adults, families and domestic violence victims.
The Yolo County Housing Authority owns and operates traditional public housing and administers another federal housing program to assist farm workers. Low-income residents in Davis receive assistance from federal Section 8 and Voucher housing programs. Locally, 93 households live in housing subsidized by the Federal Government via contracts with landlords. In addition, 53 residents receive vouchers which pay a portion of the rent for very-low and low-income families.
The Housing Element of the Davis General Plan has identified rent overpayment and overcrowding in Davis as the primary indicators of housing problems. The barriers to affordable housing in Davis include:
The City of Davis has vested the Dispute Resolution Offices with the responsibility to implement the city Fair Housing Program. The program includes outreach, landlord training, audits, fair housing mediation and advocacy in developing fair housing complaints.
The City of Davis building inspector maintains a Retrofit and Resale Program which monitors lead-based paints. Any lead-based paint identified in rehabilitation projects will be removed. There is currently no lead-based paint in projects owned by the City, Community Housing Opportunities Corporation (the community housing agency which owns over 600 affordable units,) the Yolo County Housing Authority, or other city funded housing projects.
Davis is fortunate to have exceptional community resources: a superb University, a creative business environment and a disproportionately high level of parks, open space and bikeways. The Davis schools are very highly rated and the crime rate is very low. The number of low- income residents is partially related to the average low-income of university students. But the proportion of non-student, low-income residents is also growing. The Davis Consolidated Plan recognizes the need for community development activities aimed at reducing poverty and reducing the need for public assistance. Thus, federal funds are used for meal programs, health care, crisis counseling, job coaching and training and to increase access to public facilities for disabled residents.
The City of Davis Parks and Community Services Department - Social Services
Division is the lead agency for the coordination and submission of the
Consolidated Plan and also manages the CDBG program. The Consolidated Plan is
subject to the City of Davis General Plan which is coordinated by the City of
Davis Planning and Building Department. The city coordinates all
federally-funded affordable housing projects through various monitoring
activities including site visits, written reports, audits and community
meetings. Over 30 community agencies regularly participate in the CDBG and
other federal programs. As a requirement of participating in the City of Davis
Community Development Block Grant process, organizations are required to work
cooperatively with other agencies in providing affordable housing, mental health
and other social services programs.
The City of Davis Consolidated Plan invisions mobilizing and leveraging public, private and community resources to increase affordable housing and enhance the entire community of Davis through a broad based array of services for needy residents.
The Housing and Community Development Objectives and Priorities are summarized in the Consolidated Plan, based on the City General Plan. These priorities include:
| Income level | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| Very-low Income (0-30% of median) | 572 | |
| Low Income (31-50% median) | 674 | |
| Moderate Income (51-80% median) | 777 | |
| TOTAL | 2,023 |
The city's commitment to affordable housing development and preservation and the provision of social services to support housing make it difficult to rank one priority over another. Housing for very-low and low-income renters receive the highest priority along with homeless programs. The next highest priority is support services and ownership programs for low-income residents. The final priority is new ownership opportunities for very-low income residents. Unfortunately, ownership is not likely to occur without tremendous infusions of government subsidy.
Priorities to alleviate homelessness are to continue support of the continuum of services for homeless residents. This continuum includes, outreach, shelter, transitional housing, affordable housing, supportive services and homelessness prevention.
Priority non-housing community development needs in Davis include expansion of job training programs, development of a new shelter for families displaced by domestic violence and development of a new health clinic for low-income residents. These priorities will be met through a partnership with the city, CommuniCare Health Centers, the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center and local businesses.
The various participants in the development of the Consolidated Plan gave input and suggestions about the role of local government in reducing poverty. The strategy adopted in the Davis Consolidated Plan recognizes the limited role that local government plays in the lives of individuals and families in poverty. All anti-poverty activities are targeted at residents at or below the poverty line. Federal, local and private resources will be targeted at the following activities:
The City of Davis provides housing and community development assistance resources in a number of ways: provision of local and federal resources for the development of housing and other services; contribution of land for affordable housing projects; and, assistance with funding applications for public and private resources. Public resources include the local Redevelopment Agency, Community Development Block Grant Funds, local Housing Trust Fund, Section 8 program and the HOME program. Private resources utilized by the community include developing dedicated land, tax credit allocation programs and over 20 community bank and business loan and guarantee programs. Nonprofit organizations are also a critical asset in the partnership that implements housing and community development projects. Recently, Davis affordable housing has been developed by at least nine nonprofit groups.
The community groups and housing developers that work with the Davis CDBG
program and all Davis social services projects meet regularly to coordinate
services. Semi-annual grantee meetings are held, services are listed in the
computerized Y-linked data base and case managers coordinate shelter, housing,
job and domestic violence programs. All federally funded projects are subject
to public planning processes, which give staff the opportunity to monitor
compliance with local, regional, state and federal requirements.
The City of Davis One-Year Action Plan outlines the proposed use of $974,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds. In addition, $260,000 in local Housing Trust funds, $80,000 in City Redevelopment funds and $6,000 in program income will be spent on an array of housing and community development activities. The federal CDBG funds will be used in the following broad categories:
Over 80% of the projects in the City of Davis have citywide benefit. Though service centers may be located in scattered sites throughout the city, client access is considered in the placement of service sites. Affordable housing projects are located in all areas in Davis. A project location map and project legend appears on the following pages.
The City of Davis Parks and Community Services - Social Services Division is the lead agency in the coordination of the Consolidated Plan. In addition, this division manages the CDBG program and will coordinate funding applications for the HOME program. The city works through subrecipients to accomplish many of the housing, public services and public facilities activities. The city directly manages the removal of architectural barriers, economic development and most administration and special activities.
The City of Davis housing goals for the first year of the Consolidated Plan is to continue pre- development on four projects totaling over 200 units which will house at least 800 low-income residents. It is expected that one housing project totaling at least 40 units and benefiting at least 160 low-income residents will be completed in 1995. Shelter will be provided for at least 120 individuals and families and respite, meals, hospice and adult day health services will prevent homelessness for at least 300 local residents. The city will also initiate a low-income Security Deposit Guarantee program in 1995 which will provide access to private rental housing for at least 50 households in Davis.
MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.
MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.
MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels.
MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects; in addition, a table shows information about the project(s).
MAP 6 depicts Neighborhood Streets and proposed HUD funded projects..
