Socal Multiunit Real Estate

GREEN WALLS KEEP MULTIUNIT PROPERTIES COOLER

GREEN WALLS KEEP PROPERTIES COOLER

By Jodi Summers

We discussed green roofs, now let’s cover green walls. Covered in vegetation, green walls can be 25% cooler than regular building walls in summer, remove air pollutants, and they look great.

Historically speaking, green walls aren’t exactly a new idea: The Romans planted grape vines along building walls, resulting in faster growing and sweeter grapes for wine. The structures are also prevalent in Europe, where modern-day green roofs first took off.

What the ancient Romans devised is now be adapted for 21^st century applications. Steven Peck, president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a Toronto industry association, observes that interest in green walls is growing, estimating that green roof installations have increased at about 30 percent a year over five years.

Locally, the Rainbow Apartments off San Julian Street in the heart of skid row has a 34-foot-long vegetable wall filled with strawberries, tomatoes, basil and other herbs and vegetables. Residents of this step up housing facility are surprised at how the garden has united them.

“It brings us together as a group, kind of like therapy, to see something growing and flourishing,” Jannie Burrows said.

The wall was installed with the assistance Urban Farming, as part of the nonprofit’s Food Chain project. Urban Farming also erected “edible” walls at the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, the Miguel Contreras Learning Center and the Weingart Centidenter.

The Food Chain project, said Urban Farming founder Taja Sevelle, enables residents in some of the city’s poorest areas to grow food in underused spaces at a time when food prices are soaring. The walls, she said, “get people to think outside the box. You can plant food in so many different places.”

In the corporate world, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. recently installed a 2,400 square feet green wall on one side of its headquarters in Pittsburgh. It’s the size of two tennis courts and features more than 15,000 ferns, sedums, brass buttons and other plants that create a swirling pattern of varying hues of green above the company’s logo. They are divided among hundreds of 2-by-2-foot aluminum panels that were anchored onto the building’s frame after part of the granite facade was removed.

“We think it’s the right thing to do for our community, for our customers and our shareholders,” said Gary Saulson, head of corporate real estate for PNC. “We wanted to add greenery to an area that didn’t have any. … We really view the green wall as public art.”

Green Living Technologies LLC, of Rochester, N.Y., designed the wall at PNC. The company has also installed walls in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.

PNC bills its green wall as the largest in North America. On average green walls cost about $100 to $125 a square foot.

The Pittsburgh wall requires only 15 minutes a week of watering during peak growing season — less in winter — provided through the building’s plumbing system.

For non-edible green walls, according to Joanne Westphal, a landscape architecture professor at Michigan State University and part of the school’s Green Roof Research Program, the biggest benefit to green walls is their ability to help cool buildings through shading. They also help capture rainwater and release it more slowly into the atmosphere and stormwater systems. Additionally, green walls can offset the carbon output of one person a day.

http://www.agreenroof.com

http://www.greenroofs.org

http://www.socalgreenrealestateblog.com/?p=514

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5hKS7UwnC8nR6j4kYQLu6m1X7nBbQD9B9DRK00?index=0

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hKS7UwnC8nR6j4kYQLu6m1X7nBbQD9B9DRK00

http://www.insideurbangreen.org/green-wall/

http://www.edgelosangeles.com/index.php?ch=style&sc=home&sc2=&sc3=&id=97540

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/14/local/me-garden14

http://arkitipintel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/amelia_b_lima-green_wall.jpg

MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA’S 30/10 INITIATIVE WILL BRING MORE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES TO LOS ANGELES

By Jodi Summers

What causes the most pollution in Los Angeles? Vehichles. How do we solve that issue? Better mass transit. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s latest solution for greening Los Angeles is the 30/10 initiative - the mass transit financing method that the mayor proposed to the federal government so that Los Angeles can build their 30-year mass transit model in 10 years’ time.

Montiel believes that the 30/10 initiative can transform public housing by creating projects such as Jordan Downs, a 700-unit, 103-building public housing apartment complex in Watts, and one of 14 sites citywide that have potential for improvement through transit-oriented and vertical development.

The 30/10 proposal would allow Metro to construct the full Westside extension, but also two easterly extensions of the Gold Line, two new branches for the Green Line, several busways in San Fernando Valley, a link along I-405, and new light rail lines downtown, along Crenshaw Boulevard, to Santa Monica, and via the West Santa Ana branch corridor. The West Santa Ana branch corridor would be served by commuter rail. All by 2020. Green multiunit complexes would dot the new transportation lines.

“We are trying to define density not as a bad word, but as a word that can have elegance to it, and be green, and be smart,” the mayor said. “Yet the city needs to change even more, and the 30/10 plan is one of the routes to that change.”

The 30/10 proposal that went to Washington looks something like this:

o Current long-range transportation plan assumes $18.3 billion in transit expenditures over 30 years. 65% of funds would come from Measure R, with 23% from New Starts and 12% from other sources.

o The 30/10 Initiative would allow total expenditures to be reduced to $14.7 billion because of avoided inflation, since projects would be completed in ten years, twenty years ahead of schedule. More cost savings could also be possible because of a cheaper construction market.

o Of that $14.7 billion, $5.8 billion is expected to be available from existing sources, with around $8.8 billion still necessary, which could be provided through a loan from the federal government.

o Measure R would then pay back its $8.8 billion in debts for projects completed between 2010 and 2020 with $10.4 billion in tax revenue received between 2020 and 2040.

In Washington, Mayor Villiarigosa got support Oregon Democratic Representative Peter DeFazio, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer also supports the effort. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood signaled that he was open to the opportunity in a meeting in Los Angeles

“Four years ago, when I talked about the subway to the sea, people laughed,”

Villaraigosa recalls. “But we are going to build it. All of these transit plans will happen.”

Initiatives like the 30/10 plan are part of a way of thinking that cities must pursue in order to remain successful, the mayor concludes. “Continue to think through what cities need to do to be more sustainable, to develop their assets, and to leverage the many important components of what a livable city should be like.”

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http://www.laedc.org/businessscan/index.html

http://www.globest.com/newspics/la_urbanmarketplacepanel.jpg

http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2010/03/01/how-feasible-is-antonio-villaraigosas-3010-gambit-for-los-angeles-transit/

http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/04/22/3010-survives-the-metro-board-of-directors/

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/26/opinion/la-oe-rutten27-2010feb27

http://www.globest.com/news/1622_1622/losangeles/184054-1.html

http://laist.com/attachments/la_zach/villaraigosa-oath-inaug.jpg

http://www.socalgreenrealestateblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/subwaymayor-760786.jpg

http://www.socalmultiunitrealestateblog.com/?p=720

http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/rogers1.jpg

http://franchise.business-opportunities.biz/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/economic-downturn.jpg

4 GREEN BUILDING TRENDS 4U

4 GREEN BUILDING TRENDS 4U

By Jodi Summers

Green building concepts are being embraced with as much wild abandon as kids grasping for the coolest new video game. It started pretty basic – green construction, then evolved into green renovation, and now it’s branching out in all directions. Here are 4 green building trends to watch and invest….

1 - Modular Green Homes – One of the most successful investors in history, Warren Buffett, recently expanded one of his business subsidiaries, Clayton Homes, to produces a line of green modular homes. These 750-square-foot eco homes, dubbed “i-houses,” can be purchased online for less than $75,000. It’s a good bet that if Buffet is invested in it, the area will grow. Our hero is second richest man in the United States with a net worth of $40 billion.

The i-houses are constructed as modules in a factory and then assembled in the field. I-houses are marketed as “affordable luxury in a green, energy-efficient package.”

Beyond Buffett, there are others, such as Zeta Communities and Blu Homes in the green prefabricated market. Modular home construction will be a wise choice for builders going forward because it may allow developers reduce risk, allowing the development of large sites to take place as sales come in rather than building a planned community in larger phases before the units are sold out.

2 – Energy Retrofits – California state measure AB 1103, which requires the tracking of the energy use of all nonresidential buildings for disclosure to prospective buyers and tenants, is a fine example of how critical energy retrofits will be in the future. Much of the country’s real estate is old and wastes energy…eventually these properties will need to be upgraded or replaced. Not to mention, this is a cornerstone of President Obama’s post recession job creation movement.

Energy Star, the government, and local utilities have been offering rebates for property owners on measures like energy audits, insulation and duct sealing. SBI Energy predicts that the U.S. home energy retrofit market will grow about 15 percent per year to $35 billion by 2013, up from $20.7 billion in 2007.

David Leathers, senior vice president of energy services for mechanical contractor Limbach, confides that U.S. commercial building in the U.S. five years or older can likely benefit from a retrofit with payback for most measures taken in less than five years.

3 - Smart Building Materials - Energy-efficient building materials are the frame of green building. Serious Materials recently raised a $60 million third round of venture for the manufacture of energy-saving windows and environmentally friendly substitutes for sheetrock. More good investments - high-efficiency insulation system companies, such as walls with micro-encapsulated phase change materials to stabilize the indoor temperatures in buildings. More…Electrochromic technologies can darken or lighten the tint of a window when in contact with an electrical current, thus managing the amount of sunlight that passes through…Ventilated double-skin facades (already being used in Europe), use inner and outer glass walls with a thin cavity to provide insulation in between for the exterior shell of a building.

4 - More Energy Efficient Energy Codes - The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE ) and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) are both developing the latest round of “model codes”— ASHRAE 90.1 and IECC — will likely require a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency.

Congress may soon mandate that all states raise their standards to the newest codes. The American Clean Energy and Security Act passed by the House this year includes a provision that would effectively create a baseline national building energy code by mandating the adoption of a standard set by the Department of Energy, who may very well call on the standards set forth by ASHRAE or IECC.

**

http://earth2tech.com/2009/12/23/4-green-building-trends-to-watch-in-2010/

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Homes/Green-Modular-Homes.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffet

http://www.socalgreenrealestateblog.com/?p=841

http://www.ashrae.org/

http://www.icis.com/blogs/green-chemicals/2009/01/green-building-is-still-recess.html

http://www.newenglandmetalroof.com/construction_directory/green-building.gif

http://www.charlesandhudson.com/archives/eco-friendly-building-materials.jpg

GLOBAL EDGE TOP 10 BUSINESS DESTINATIONS

GLOBAL EDGE TOP 10 BUSINESS DESTINATIONS

edited by Jodi Summers

Global Property Guide has put together a list of the most attractive

property investment destinations across the world. Their research team

has ranked 77 of the world’s largest cities according to the average

gross rental yields.

The top 10 destinations are dominated by Asian cities, with Jakarta,

Kuala Lumpur and Manila all making the list.

http://www.globaledge.co.uk/news/top-10-best-investment-destinations-35909

CALGREEN – > CALIFORNIA NOW HAS THE COUNTRY’S GREENEST BUILDING STANDARD

By Jodi Summers

Bravo to us! California has adopted the greenest building standards in the United States…and the world.

The new code, called Calgreen, goes into effect next January 2011. It requires all builders to:

v Install plumbing that cuts indoor water use.

Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, said the new building code would require developers to slash water use in their buildings by 20%, using more efficient toilets, shower heads and faucets.

v Divert 50 percent of construction waste from landfills to recycling.

v Use low-pollutant paints, carpets and floorings

v Buildings will be given certificates of occupancy occupied only after strict energy standards were verified.

In addition, for non residential buildings:

v Install separate water meters for different uses.

v Mandates the inspection of energy systems by local officials to ensure that heaters, air conditioners and other mechanical equipment in nonresidential buildings are working efficiently.

v It allows local jurisdictions, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, to retain their stricter existing green building standards, or adopt more stringent versions of the state code if they choose.

“California should be proud… These are simple, cost-effective green practices. …” notes Tom Sheehy, acting secretary of the state Consumer Services Agency and chair of the California Building Standards Commission, which approved the standards. “This is (something) no other state in the country has done - integrating green construction practices into the very fabric of the construction code.”

While California’s largest metropolitan areas have adopted their own green building standards, these new regulations will be particularly useful for smaller jurisdictions that have been unable to develop their own green construction guidelines.

This is a positive alternative to LEED construction standards. Sites Sandra Boyle, an executive vice president of Glenborough, a developer, “The cost for owners to go through this rating system is astronomical — in a very challenging commercial real estate market.”

“You will have a whole bunch of cities that never would have included this in their building doing it, and doing it in a way that won’t kill the economy,” observes Matthew Hargrove, a vice president with the California Business Properties Association. “Outside the coastal areas it will be helpful - like in West Sacramento, where they looked into creating a green building code but balked because it’s cumbersome to develop and they didn’t have the resources.”

Buildings currently account for about one-quarter of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions. These new standards are applauded as an important step in helping California meet its goal in reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020.

**

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/01/13/MNDR1BH9SA.DTL#ixzz0dJ9grkaW

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/01/13/MNDR1BH9SA.DTL

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-green-building11-2010jan11,0,1841989.story

http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/WA/Kohler-DualFlush-BR08-lg.jpg

Energy to Sell - States with Renewable Portfolio Standards

States with Renewable Portfolio Standards

Edited by Jodi Summers

Here is a nifty map and chart from the U.S. Department of Energy showing states with renewable portfolio standards - a state policy that requires electricity providers to obtain a minimum percentage of their power from renewable energy resources by a certain date.

California is stellar with the objective of 33% renewable energy by 2030, but not nearly as aggressive as Maine, which is shooting for 40% renewable by 2017.

Currently there are 24 states plus the District of Columbia that have RPS policies in place. Together these states account for more than half of the electricity sales in the United States. Five other states, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and Vermont, have nonbinding goals for adoption of renewable energy instead of an RPS.

The chart below gives a rough summary of state renewable portfolio standards and links to organizations that are administering these standards or explain the details involved. Percentages refer to a portion of electricity sales and megawatts (MW) to absolute capacity requirements. Most of these standards phase in over years, and the date refers to when the full requirement takes effect.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/maps/renewable_portfolio_states.cfm?prin

URGENT! CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSMAN TO AVOID COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE TAX HIKES

Action to Oppose More Than Doubling of Taxes on Real Estate Carried Interests

Edited by Jodi Summers

In early December, Congressman Charles Rangel Ways, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, introduced the “Tax Extenders Act of 2009″ (H.R. 4213). Wrapped in this legislation package is a proposal that would more than double the taxes on carried interest received by general partners in real estate partnerships. Under this legislation, carried interest would no longer be taxed as capital gains at 15 percent, but as ordinary income at rates as high as almost 35 percent…making everyone’s investment real estate holdings a lot less sexy.

Kick us while we’re down. Those investing in commercial real estate are already feeling economic distress because of the decline of property values and the lack of loans available. The proposed legislation would more than double the taxes imposed on many real estate entrepreneurs.

If H.R. 4123 enacted into law, this proposal could be the largest modification to the taxation of real estate since the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

This bill was past stealthfully, proposed on December 7^th, it bypassed the customary legislative process, bypassing the House Ways and Means Committee, and going directly to the House floor for a vote on December 9, reducing meaningful opportunities to amend the bill.

Safeguard your real estate assets; communicate with your Congressional Representatives and Senators! Let them know that this tax increase on carried interest will further damage the commercial real estate industry and undermine efforts in their own communities to spur job growth and economic recovery.

http://www.capwiz.com/naiop/issues/alert/?alertid=14439831&type=CO has letters ready to go to your congressmen.

Save your assets and contact them.

**

http://www.capwiz.com/naiop/issues/alert/?alertid=14439831&type=CO

http://www.ysop.org/images/Capitol.jpg

Sustainable Industries’ Top 10 Green Building Products of 2009

Sustainable Industries’ Top 10 Green Building Products of 2009

Edited by Jodi Summers

Not to be outdone by other trends, Sustainable Industries magazine has made their choices
for the 2009 Top 10 Green Building Products. These industry-leading green building products
winners were selected by a panel of expert judges and the Sustainable Industries editorial team 
based on their environmental performance, scalability/market impact, innovation,design
aesthetic, value and compatibility with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. 

The 2009 Top 10 Green Building Product winners are:

Acadia Combined Heating and Cooling System

Made by Hallowell International

(www.gotohallowell.com)

The Acadia is not just another heating and cooling system. It maintains 200 percent efficiency even when outdoor temperatures drop well below zero..should global climate change ever affect us that severely. Acadia users can save up to 70 percent of their home heating energy costs.

ec-H20

Made by Tennant Co.

(www.tennantco.com)

Requiring no chemicals, ec-H2O uses tap water to clean most any surface of most any substance. Each machine reduces water usage by 70 to 80 percent, and the potential of 245 million gallons of water each year if it were installed in all new floor-cleaning machines.

InSpire Wall

Made by ATAS International

(www.atas.com)

This simple technology uses the power of the sun to heat outdoor air before sending it indoors, thereby slashing energy use while boosting indoor air quality. Depending on what kind of heating fuel is being replaced, this product can reduce heating costs by up to $5 for each square foot of InSpire Wall installed.

kama EEBS Structural Systems

Made by kama Energy Efficient Building Systems Inc.

(www.kama-eebs.com)

kama EEBS Structural Systems integrate light gauge metal stud framing system with expanded polystyrene insulation in a proprietary design that eliminates thermal bridging and helps to create a tight, energy-efficient building envelope.

PlybooPure Bamboo Plywood

Made by Smith & Fong Co.

(www.plyboo.com)

Because it’s technically a grass, bamboo had not previously been eligible for FSC certification. But in January 2008, after two years of lobbying, Smith & Fong achieved this first that propelled it to recognition on this year’s Top 10 list.

RainTube

Made by GLI Systems Inc.

(www.raintube.com)

This product received more Top 10 nominations than any other product this year. RainTube is a rain gutter filter made of 100 percent post-consumer high-density polyethylene – old milk jugs, in other words. This product is also Cradle to Cradle-certified, meaning that GLI Systems Inc had to develop a Post-Use Recovery Plan that goes out with every product.

Separett Villa

Made by Separett

(www.ecovita.net/villa)

This urine-diverting composting toilet – which is 100 percent PVC fee –uses no water and keeps solids separate from liquids, reducing odor and making it possible to reuse waste and urine for composting and fertilizing. The Separett Villa can be deployed where no plumbing exists, allowing for a greater reach of the technology.

Serious Windows

Made by Serious Materials

(www.seriouswindows.com)

Serious Windows are so efficient they have the potential to allow for the elimination of a building’s heating system, allowing waste heat from building appliances to serve as the main heat source in some applications. The windows have a full-frame R value of at least five and up to 11, which can cut a building’s energy bills by up to 50 percent per month.

Solatube Daylighting Systems

Made by Solatube International

(www.solatube.com)

This patented technology catches direct sunlight and redirects it down an adjustable-length tube, bringing daylight to parts of buildings that would not otherwise have access to natural light. The Vista, Calif.-based company recently launched a product specifically designed for commercial applications, making it ideal for large-roofed warehouses and manufacturing facilities, as well as retail stores and schools – allplaces that have been shown to benefit from increased daylight, as daylight is linked to higher worker productivity, decreased absenteeism and better retail sales.

Your Old Light Fixture

Made by Eleek

(www.eleekinc.com)

Eleek is the only business to make the Top 10 Green Building Products list all four years. Though not a product, Eleek’s lighting restoration service speaks to the important concept of the re-use of existing goods. When Eleek restores a light fixture, every piece of a fixture is taken apart, repaired and restored to its original splendor. Its wiring is updated to comply with modern codes and standards and a new lamp base is installed so it works with energy-efficient lamps such as CFLs and LEDs.

Original article @ http://www.sustainableindustries.com/greenbuilding/49012336.html

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TRENDS 4 U

By Jodi Summers

A recent study from the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has concluded that homes near cities with thriving economies and mass transit will outperform outer-ring suburbs and “exurban areas,” it the near future.

The study calculated information supplied by more than 600 real estate experts, including investors, developers, lenders and real estate brokers. The report, Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2009, projects that the worst of the national housing downturn may be over, with the bottom of the market being confirmed by the end of this year.

The report included an overview of housing markets and how they may be affected by macroeconomic trends and changing regional conditions.

Some entertaining factoids:

· Changing preferences could increase demand for condos in urban areas, many of which now have a glut of such properties. One respondent said their company had 30,000 unsold units in south Florida — just as they did in 1975 and 1988.

· At some point, those high-end Miami condos overlooking the Atlantic will be good buys,” the report predicts, noting that ocean views “always find a market.”

· 24 hour cities” like New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., should also benefit from mass transit systems that can free residents from car dependence.

But, gains in the attractiveness of 24-hour cities could be “squandered” if cutbacks in police, fire and sanitation result in less safe and appealing environments. Falling property values and the economic slowdown are expected to cut into tax revenues, forcing cities to reduce services.

“Nothing would undermine 24-hour dynamics more quickly than rising crime rates,” the report warned.

· “Fast-growing Sunbelt cities had pooh-poohed mass transit in their rapid expansions, enabled by interstate highway building during the 1960s and 1970s,” the report observed. “Virtually no one contemplated the consequences of car dependence until populations began to overwhelm road capacities.”

· The Sunbelt is also plagued by water issues, as spotlighted by droughts that tested Atlanta’s reservoir system, which the report called “insufficient.”

· Water issues pose a challenge to further growth in areas dependant on the Colorado River and throughout the Southwest, the report said. Continued growth in areas like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Southern California will require increased conservation and new sources of water.

· The suburbs will continue to be desirable to families in search of better school districts and child-friendly environments. But the mortgage crisis, high car-related costs and increasing property taxes mean moving to the suburbs requires greater sacrifices.

· As home prices continue to fall, “McMansion subdivisions in the sticks (will) take a double whammy,” the report predicts. Rising heating and cooling bills could work against sellers already facing resistance to long commutes. “People realize they don’t need 3,000 square feet and four cars anymore,” one respondent noted in the report.

· California’s large suburban satellite markets, Riverside and Orange County, are expected to “tank in mortgage and housing misery.”

http://www.inman.com/news/2008/10/21/housing-healthier-near-thriving-metros

http://www.condobook.com/images/home-right.jpg

http://www.ulisf.org/imgManager/1000000877/Cover%20-%20EmergingTrends2009.jpg

http://www.ulisf.org/imgManager/1000000025/maps.png

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ERJ3VTs4Tho/STMgbiE4PcI/AAAAAAAADOE/Os15Z_s-TBI/s400/iStock_000002504258XSmall.jpg

http://exitrealestate540.com/files/2008/12/thefutureroadsign.jpg

http://www.alwaysonvacation.com/photos/United-States_California_Squaw-Valley_414901.html?spid=415021

WHAT WE SPEND ON HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION

By Jodi Summers

Secretary Shaun Donovan U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently presented a report called “Livable Communities, Transit Oriented Development, and Incorporating Green Building Practices into Federal Housing and Transportation Policy” to the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations United States House of Representatives. We thought you’d enjoy these statistics that were presented by Secretary Donovan:

“The average American household now spends 34 percent of their annual budget on housing and 18 percent on transportation - the combined total of 52 percent of their budgets wrapped up in these two largest expenses. For low-income working families, the impact is more serious - with transportation representing almost a third of their costs. The extremes can be eye-opening - the average Houston-area household spends over $11,000 per year on transportation. For these families, the expense of transportation poses a particular burden, inhibiting wealth creation, hindering home ownership and pushing family budgets closer to the brink. In some metropolitan areas, working families are spending more on transportation than on housing. The recent housing downturn has shown that auto-dependent houses are more vulnerable to price devaluation, as homes in distant neighborhoods declined in value more than regional averages, while some centrally-located homes held or increased their value. For lower-income households who hold much of their savings in their home equity, these declines can seriously undermine or eliminate their tenuous financial security. While housing costs in distant suburban locations may be lower, transportation costs are higher, and the combination of housing and transportation costs now averages 57 percent of income for working families in metropolitan areas.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cir/test090318.cfm

http://www.inman.com/news/2009/03/19/partnership-targets-affordability-transportation