Economic & Community Development

Housing Resources

Every year, the opportunity to rent an apartment or own a home in Greater Portland is moving beyond the reach of the average worker.  By 2025, the region will increase or grow by another 50,000 people. Where will they live? GPCOG is committed to helping communities address barriers to the construction of safe, decent, and affordable housing throughout the region's villages and downtowns by:

• Collecting data on local and regional housing indicators.
• Reporting on the region's housing trends. See Boom or Burden , Portland's Housing Crisis report.
• Providing tools to help forecast future housing needs.
• Disseminating research on housing development strategies.
• Working in collaboration with stakeholders and affordable housing advocacy groups.

Planning Tools:
GPCOG has developed a number of tools to help municipalities prepare housing plans.

• Template (Excel) for preparing a municipal housing forecast.
• Toolbox of sample ordinanes and plans.
• 2025 Population, Housing, and Employment Forecast for Cumberland County.
• Municipal Fair Share Housing Targets (pdf) to help communities reach affordable housing goals
  

The last two items are contained in the Cumberland County Housing and Homeless Needs Assessment produced in 2007.

Toolbox      UPDATED March 2008
Under a grant from the Maine State Housing Authority and the Maine State Planning Office, the Greater Portland Council of Governments has developed a toolbox that focuses on what municipalities can do to increase the supply and availability of affordable housing. The toolbox includes information on the Greater Portland housing market, a regional housing forecast, and housing development strategies in Southern Maine and other regions throughout the country.  The toolbox was updated in 2008.  Strategies in the toolbox are included as case studies, sample ordinances, articles, research, plans, and grant applications covering the following areas:

• Accessory Dwelling Units
• Comprehensive Planning
• Contract Zoning
• Density Bonus
• Design Standards
• Exemption from Growth Caps
• Form Based Codes
• Housing Plans
• Grants and loans for housing construction
• Green Design
• High Density-Mixed Use/Compact Development
• Housing Plans
• Housing Rehabilitation
• Impact Fee Waivers
• Inclusionary Zoning
• Infill Development
• Land Trusts
• Neighborhood Planning
• Planning for Baby Boomers, Young People and Other Demographics
• Preservation of Affordability
• Reduction in Parking Requirements
• Replacement Housing Policy
• Special Needs Housing
• Transfer of Development Rights
• Transit Oriented Development

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The toolbox is available on CD-Rom at no charge to persons representing member GPCOG communities. For the general public, it is available for $7.50 to cover shipping and handling. Please e-mail Caroline Paras (cparas@gpcog.org) to request a copy.

For developers interested specifically in funding opportunities, please check out the following agencies:

Maine State Housing Authority

Maine Department of Economic and Community Development

An Act to Establish a Municipal Affordable Housing Development District Tax Increment Financing Program. Public Law 2003

USDA Rural Development

EPA Brownfields

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

National Park Service's Historic Preservation Tax Credits