How Irving Residents Can Provide Input on the City’s 20-Year Housing Strategy

The city of Irving already got high marks for its housing market. In a recent report, Niche ranked Irving the 30th-best place to buy a house in America. America.

But Irving is looking to up its game even more. This week, the city will host two town halls, one in English and one in Spanish, to address the results of a 20-year housing strategy developed by the National Development Council.

Residents can provide input on the plan that could shape its housing assistance programs, planning and zoning, investments into parks, libraries, streets, water systems, and other city infrastructure.

The town halls will be at City Hall, 825. W. Irving Blvd., with virtual options available via Zoom. Here’s how residents can participate:

• Town hall, March 23, 7 p.m. (English)
• Town hall, March 24, 7 p.m. (en Español)
• Residents can click here to RSVP or request to speak at either meeting. Residents can also take a survey that seeks to gather data about the types of housing and assistance programs residents would prefer.

In early 2020, the city hosted a series of policy town halls to gather community feedback about future housing needs. City staff compiled the data and will recommend to the City Council a policy that provides a roadmap for the next 20 years. Those meetings were recorded and are available on demand.

Residents can view the City of Irving Housing Strategy here. The strategy was developed in coordination with the NDC’s central team. NDC senior director Raquel Favela and NDC field director Maureen Milligan developed the report. Favela, former Chief of Economic Development and Neighborhood Service for Dallas, has also advised housing strategies in San Antonio and Temple.

According to the report’s executive summary, the city received rare high marks from its contractor and development customers for its efficient permitting and zoning processes.

“This is important because overly burdensome entitlement processes are often the root cause of a city’s housing shortage, but this is clearly not the case in Irving. However, due to lack of developable residential lots, there has been limited new construction and the existing housing inventory continues to age; therefore Irving families are experiencing overcrowding and housing cost burdens.”

To address these concerns, the report focused on three strategies to address problems caused by the housing shortage: preservation, development, and economic mobility.

• Preservation: prioritize resources to make necessary investments into existing housing stock to preserve existing affordable housing and bring it to current market standards.
• Development: identify opportunities to create new housing options that meet today’s housing consumer needs.
• Economic Mobility: identify tools or programs that can be used to provide access to market-rate housing for everyone.

If Niche’s report is an indication, Irving has a good start. The city earned an overall A grade with its highest grade in diversity (A+). The city’s lowest grade came in crime and safety, and it was a C+. Irving got a B in housing with a median home value of $177,500 (less than the national median of $217,500).

According to the report: “Living in Irving offers residents an urban-suburban mix feel and most residents (63 percent) rent their homes. In Irving, there are a lot of bars, restaurants, and parks. Many families and young professionals live in Irving and residents tend to lean liberal. The public schools in Irving are above average.”