Residential nexus analysis

A residential nexus analysis (RNA) is a study usually conducted or commissioned usually by a California municipal government, regarding the effect of new market‐rate housing on the need for subsidized/mandated affordable housing or other city services. It is generally designed to create a legally defensible justification for establishing city inclusionary zoning requirements (“IHRs” or “inclusionary percentages”) and/or “in‐lieu” fees, or others such as development impact fees.  They are employed particularly because California courts have ruled [citation needed] that such policies and fees must be based on a reasonable showing of nexus, or causal relationship, between the market-rate housing and the inclusionary policies or fees imposed by cities. 

 

 

References

 

• Cray, Adam F. "The Use of Residential Nexus Analysis in Support of California’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinances: A Critical Evaluation."
  November 2011. (based on earlier UC Berkeley MPP master's thesis; funded through a grant from the California Homebuilding Foundation). http://www.cbia.org/uploads/5/1/2/6/51268865/residential_nexus_analysis_in_support_of_california_complete.pdf.
   
• Randolph, Yonathan. "Stop Quoting the Residential Nexus Analysis." Blog post, 15 Apr 2017. https://blog.yonathan.org/posts/2017-04-stop-quoting-the-residential-nexus-analysis.html.
   
• Trauss, Sonja. "Often Quoted San Francisco 'Nexus Study' is Junk Science." SFBARF, Oct 2, 2015. https://sfbarf.tumblr.com/post/131634715010/often-quoted-san-francisco-nexus-study-is-junk.