Inside the Comprehensive Plan: What Will Troy's Housing Look Like?

Taking a deeper look at one of the community's most challenging issues

Talking about the biggest challenges facing the community, three issues rise to the top - housing, child care and transportation. All three are seen as key issues that are preventing people from fully participating in the workforce and the local economy.

When it comes to housing, quite a bit of energy has been put to this issue by American Structurepoint, the city’s consultant on the new Comprehensive Plan. The new plan provides an analysis of Troy's housing situation and gives insight to future plans. The City’s housing environment provides a complex landscape of challenges and opportunities. Troy's housing market has experienced significant growth, with median home values rising from $156,855 in 2020 to $180,440 in 2023 for all homes, and $258,155 for single-unit detached residences

This increase is attributed to national trends affecting local markets. Despite steady new construction, with Troy averaging approximately 150 new home permits annually, there remains a substantial unmet housing demand. The accompanying Existing Conditions Report identified the city’s housing shortage:

This gap indicates a need for accelerated development to meet the city's housing needs. The plan highlights specific price points where demand is highest. For rental units, the most significant demand is in the $50,000 to $100,000 annual income range, corresponding to monthly rents of $1,250 to $2,500. Owner-occupied homes see the highest demand in the $65,000 to $100,000 income range, with purchase prices between $200,000 and $350,000.

In the plan, community feedback played an important role in shaping Troy's housing strategy. Stakeholders and residents have expressed a desire for increased homeownership options and a mix of new housing styles. Results from surveys from American Structurepoint indicated a preference for a wide range of housing types, emphasizing the community's desire for diversity in housing options.

The plan introduces the concept of micro-units as a potential solution for affordable housing. These smaller living spaces can include modern amenities while offering lower rents due to reduced square footage. On average, rents for these units are approximately $2.00 per square foot. Micro-units utilize innovative design features such as modular layouts with movable furniture, allowing for flexible living spaces.

But the question remains, where will these units be located? Assuming these micro-units are rental units, where can the city absorb putting in another 509 units of desperately needed rental housing? Well, the City’s future land-use might lend some insights.

The map shows that the single-family residential development is going to be on the city’s Northeast side, and multi-family residential development is going to be mostly in pockets on the city’s south and west side. The question that needs to be asked is whether there is enough land set aside for multi-family residential. It doesn’t seem clear that the land exists.

Now, could these micro-units be owner-occupied homes? That is certainly a strong possibility, but challenges exist there as well. Most of the new housing opportunities that are planned out are on the city’s northeast side. The housing density near State Route 55 heading towards Casstown is certainly more appropriate for these micro-units than on the north edge.

But regardless, these areas are designed with single-family residential development in mind. In other words, the development pattern is going to be more suburban in nature, with larger lot sizes on the northern edge and smaller lot sizes on the eastern edge.

Some of the strategic objectives in the plan focus on accommodating diverse housing types and densities. The city plans to refine zoning and building regulations to encourage downtown micro-unit creation, potentially including density bonuses and parking requirement reductions, but is there enough physical land supply to meet the demand, especially in the downtown area? Furthermore, if the downtown area is expected to absorb the lion’s share of the current shortage of 529 rental housing units, what will that do to traffic and parking? All important considerations to undertake.

The Comprehensive Plan is a step in the right direction, there is no doubt about that, but there is still a great deal of thinking and planning for the community’s future when it comes to the housing issues we are all facing, especially as it relates to growing the local workforce.

What Do You Think?

What do you think housing will look like in the future? More multi-family units? Smaller houses on smaller lots? Our paid subscribers are welcome to leave their ideas and insights in the comment section below!

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