Homelessness is a complex public health issue that results from numerous, compounding socioeconomic factors, systemic barriers, and individual or family circumstances—including lack of affordable housing and healthcare, unemployment, poverty, mental illness, substance misuse, domestic violence, and discrimination. As of 2023, an estimated 33,226 individuals were documented as experiencing homelessness in Michigan, though this number is likely an undercount due to limitations in how homelessness is tracked in Michigan and across the United States. For context, this number is comparable to entire population of the City of Jackson, Michigan or the City of Holland, Michigan.

While not limited to our profession, planners and local community leaders do have a responsibility to mitigate some root causes of homelessness and support unhoused populations through land use planning and policy tools.

1. Near Term Action: Build Familiarity and Capacity with Housing Terminology and Analysis

Planning for housing readiness begins with taking the time to understand housing affordability and access concerns as well as the lived challenges of the unhoused population in your communities from both the quantitative and qualitative perspective. This foundational understanding will help align future planning and policy decisions. Some concepts and resources to become familiar with include:

• How Area Median Income (AMI) is defined and calculated, and what “affordability” looks like for different household types within your community.
• What a housing cost-burden analysis is, and what local housing cost-burden looks like across different income levels and demographic groups.
• Who your local housing service providers are, and what urgent needs exist in their work (e.g., where service gaps exist, which populations remain underserved, and how coordination across partners and local decision makers can be strengthened).

Acquiring a working knowledge of the key challenges and available tools in your community will equip your team with the skills necessary to proactively weave housing readiness into all plan and policy development.

2. Near Term Action: Reduce Zoning Barriers to Housing Development and Incentivize Attainable Housing Types

Reducing development costs and administrative barriers can create opportunities for new housing developments that increase the supply, affordability, and quality of housing. Communities should consider Ordinance revisions that:

• Ensure that supportive housing is adequately defined and permitted by right in all residential districts.
• Incentivize the construction of shelters in areas with strong public transportation access and walkability to ensure shelter residents have access to their healthcare, employment, and service needs.
• Reduce minimum dwelling unit sizes and maximum floor area ratios to allow for the construction of smaller homes – creating a variety of housing types and price points.
• Permit Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, cottages, and other neighborhood-scale housing types across residential and mixed-use districts.
• Flexibly permit and facilitate adaptive reuse projects and other commercial to residential conversions, to create new creative opportunities for housing within the existing footprint of the community.

3. Ongoing Action: Work in Tandem with Local Housing Providers

Planners play an important role in developing partnerships with housing service providers and health agencies to improve collaboration and access to funding. Every effort should be made to:

• Collaborate with Continuums of Care (CoCs): CoCs are local planning bodies comprised of non-profit organizations, healthcare groups, and other housing advocates that coordinate efforts to end homelessness and manage HUD funding for related services. Since CoCs apply for and administer HUD grants, planners can work closely with local CoCs to identify and prioritize housing needs in the community and ensure those priorities are reflected in HUD grant applications, plans, and Ordinances.
• Inform Developers of Affordable and Attainable Housing Incentives: Numerous state and federal incentives exist to encourage developers to construct units that are affordable for those who are considered low-income (i.e., those who make 50% or less of the Area Median Income, AMI) or extremely low-income (i.e., those who make 30% or less of the AMI). These sources include Brownfield TIF, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), and the Housing Trust Fund (HTF), among others. Planners can also explore the use of Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) agreements with developers, provided that they preserve long-term affordability and include monitoring systems to ensure compliance.

4. Ongoing Action: Improve Public Spaces for Health, Well-being, and Dignity

Improving community parks and public spaces to promote safety and inclusion is an area many municipalities have room to excel in. While expanding and improving amenities and facilities can directly benefit unhoused populations, this effort truly improves the experience and well-being of all park and civic area users. Basic standards to consider in parks and civic planning efforts include:

• Free Public Restrooms and Water: Conveniently located public restrooms with wash stations provide privacy and dignity, and providing water fountains or other forms of public drinking water access is essential for healthy communities.
• Shaded Areas and Seating: Public spaces should always be designed to provide comfortable areas – including shaded areas and seating – for all community members to utilize and enjoy. Hostile architectural features such as curved, slanted or segmented benches, spiked ledges, or other design elements that are implemented to explicitly deter loitering or sleeping are not conducive to inclusive public space.
• Charging Stations and Public Wi-Fi: Installing infrastructure for community members to utilize the internet and charge their phones and electronic devices provides an opportunity to digitally access necessary healthcare, employment, and social services, and to connect with family, friends, and others within their network of care.
  If funding is not yet available for these amenities, communities can make every effort to ensure their Zoning Ordinance, Master Plans and 5-Year Parks and Recreation Plans are updated to reflect these intentions.

Taking Action at McKenna: McKenna has a full portfolio of Consolidated Plans, Housing Needs Analyses, and Neighborhood Plans that are designed to promote quality, diverse housing options and affordable housing development across the State of Michigan, as well as MDNR Parks and Recreation Plans that foster quality, inclusive public spaces. Most recently, our planners have supported the City of Pontiac in completing their 2025 Housing Study and Needs Assessment, which analyzed gaps in housing supply and demand, assessed housing affordability throughout the City, and considered how Pontiac’s housing met the needs of specific populations, like seniors. Further, McKenna has assisted several of our client communities in obtaining Housing Readiness Incentive Grants from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) to update Master Plans and amend Zoning Ordinances to promote housing access and affordability.