Free Data Tool Helps Community Track Housing Trends and Challenges in Santa Barbara County
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Transportation planner Mia Lewis showed your News Channel how to use Santa Barbara County's new, interactive housing dashboard.
It was developed by the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, giving users access to housing, workforce, and demographic data.
“There's a lot of regional difference between housing issues in our county. The county is large and diverse, so we see a variety of different issues related to different local jurisdictions and unincorporated communities," said Mia Lewis.
It covers nine main areas including housing affordability and availability, regional economy and workforce, and information regarding homelessness.
The data comes from sources including the U.S. Census bureau and local homelessness counts.
A prominent section of interest in the housing dashboard is on housing growth and the Regional Housing Needs Allocation process.
“That [RHNA] shows where we on the targets and meeting our targets for rent in each of our cities in the unincorporated and county wide. And how are we meeting those state goals," said Lauren Bianchi Klemann from the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments.
The data shows the county has made progress, but still needs to build more affordable housing.
“The county exceeded targets for low income and above moderate income, but was unable to meet targets for very low income and moderate income units," said Lewis.
The dashboard is updated twice a year.
To access the housing data dashboard visit SBCAG.
