Ashland Housing Capacity Analysis and Housing Production Strategy

Many households in Ashland are struggling to afford housing. Ashland housing costs and rents have risen sharply in recent years and are considerably above regional averages. The City of Ashland has sponsored several housing planning efforts over the last several years to address housing access, quality, and affordability concerns. The City’s 2021-2041 Housing Capacity Analysis clearly identifies a lack of housing that is affordable to households with lower and moderate incomes. To build on their progress, ECONorthwest worked with the City to develop a Housing Production Strategy. The HPS identifies and describes 15 actions and implementation steps to support development of housing, address housing affordability challenges, encourage the preservation of existing affordable housing, and promote fair housing. The HPS was developed with input and guidance from an advisory committee, community outreach, interviews with service providers and developers, and discussions with the Housing and Human Services Advisory Committee, Planning Commission and City Council. ECONorthwest and City staff crafted Ashland’s HPS in compliance with the requirements of OAR 660-008, with respect to the specific context and needs of the Ashland community. After receiving unanimous recommendations for adoption by the HPS Advisory Committee and the Housing and Human Services Advisory Committee, Ashland’s City Council unanimously adopted the HPS in May 2023 and DLCD acknowledged it in September 2023. The City plans to begin implementation work on some strategies in 2023 and with plans for adoption of the first HPS actions in 2024.