HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlan Appendix B 03 Housing
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐36
B.3 Housing
The Town’s housing stock is a blend of older and newer homes, of which nearly half were built before 1970. Housing
types include single- and two-family homes, conventional and clustered single- and two-family subdivision
developments, apartment complexes, senior housing, modular and mobile homes, and townhouse developments. A
significant portion of the residential neighborhoods in the Town are located on East Hill, near Cornell University, the
largest employer in Tompkins County. South Hill, home of the County’s second largest employer, Ithaca College,
contains the second highest concentration of residential neighborhoods found in the Town.
This section provides a snapshot of the Town of Ithaca existing housing characteristics: housing
distributions/concentrations, types and location of housing, household income, value, and affordability. Along with
the most recent Census and ACS data, Town of Ithaca building permit records between 1980 and January 2010 were
used for some of the housing distribution and concentration information.
B.3.1 Households and household size
According to Census definitions, a household includes all of the people who occupy a housing unit. The number of
households in the Town has increased over the years; however, rate of increase has lessened each decade since 1960.15
The 2010 Census estimated that there were 6,988 total households in the Town of Ithaca, not including the Village of
Cayuga Heights. Families made up around 52% of all households, and non-family households accounted for 48% of
all households. Most of the non-family households were people living alone, but some were composed of people
living in households in which no one was related to the householder (e.g., students). The chart below shows the
number of people in households in the Town as a percentage of all households (family and non-family households).
The Number of households by Census block: 2010 map shows the general distribution of households in the Town based on
2010 Census information.
Household size 2010 | Town of Ithaca
1 person
37%
2 persons
33%
3 persons
15%
4 or more
persons
15%
Source: 2010 Census
Like the number of households, the average household size has been declining in the last fifty-plus years. The average
household size in the Town reported by the 1970 Census was 3.0 persons, but the 2010 Census reported an average
household size of 2.15 persons. The average family size was 2.82 persons.
15 Comparison of Census years 1960‐2010
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐37
Households by Census block 2010 | Town of Ithaca
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐38
Group quarters and student housing
People not living in households are classified as living in group quarters. Group quarters include two general
categories of people: institutionalized and non-institutionalized populations. The institutionalized population
includes people under formally authorized, supervised care or custody (e.g., correctional institutions, juvenile
institutions, or nursing homes). The non-institutionalized population includes all people who live in other types of
group quarters, such as college dormitories, military quarters, or group homes. The 2010 Census reported that 25%
of the Town’s total population was housed in group quarters and that 96% of those in group quarters were in
college/university housing.
Ithaca College, which lies entirely within the Town of Ithaca municipal boundary, considers itself a residential college
- requiring undergraduate students to live on-campus until their senior year. As a result, nearly 100% of Ithaca
College freshmen and around 70% of degree-seeking non-freshman undergraduate students traditionally live in on-
campus housing in residential halls, the Terrace apartments, or the Circle Apartments (located adjacent to and
connected to the Ithaca College campus).16 Ithaca College upperclassmen also live in apartments and homes in the
surrounding South Hill residential neighborhoods.
Cornell is a much larger, more complex institution that is partially located within the Town and includes
undergraduate, graduate, and graduate/professional schools. 100% of Cornell freshmen and 57% of degree-seeking
non-freshman lived in on-campus housing in 2010.17 Most of Cornell’s undergraduate dormitory housing is located
within the City of Ithaca. However, Cornell housing for graduate students is located in the Town of Ithaca in the
Hasbrouck, Pleasant Grove, and Maplewood apartment complexes. Both graduate and undergraduate Cornell
students can also be found in sorority and fraternity houses and co-ops located adjacent to campus, along with
apartments and homes in the area’s surrounding residential neighborhoods.
B.3.2 Housing units
A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room occupied as separate living
quarters. The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any
other group of related or unrelated people who share living quarters.
According to the 1993 Comprehensive Plan, there was a dramatic growth in the number of housing units in the Town
(including the Village of Cayuga Heights) between 1960 and 1990, with the total number increasing from 2,770 to
6,197 units in that thirty-year period. The largest growth appears to have happened between 1960 and 1970, where
the number of housing units grew 51% in that decade.
The 2010 Census reported 7,526 total housing units in the Town (including the Village of Cayuga Heights), a 10%
increase from the Census 2000 figure and representing 18% of all housing units in Tompkins County. Although the
number of housing units has grown in the past fifty-plus years, the rate of increase has lessened each decade since
1960.
The Census reported 538 housing units in the Town, or about 7%, are vacant. Among those vacant units, 126 (23%)
are for seasonal/recreational/occasional use, while 122 (22%) are classified as "all other vacants", which includes
vacant units that may not be for sale or rent.
16 Ithaca College Office of Institutional Research, Common Data Set 2010‐11 and 16 June 2010 phone discussion with Office of
Residential Life
17 Cornell University Division of Planning and Budget, Common Data Set 2010‐11
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐39
The vacancy rate of year round housing in
the Town is about 3%; 1.4% for owner-
occupied units (3,616 units, 50 vacant for
sale), and 5.5% for rental units (3,662 units,
202 for rent). This includes units that may
not available for general occupancy, such as
student housing, income/age qualified
housing, and accessory units.
A Downtown Housing Strategy in the City of
Ithaca (2011), a report commissioned by the
Downtown Ithaca Alliance, found a 0.5%
vacancy rate for 75 selected market rate and
tax credit apartment buildings and complexes
in the downtown Ithaca effective market area
(EMA), which includes both the City and
Town of Ithaca. (The report did not include
subsidized developments.) Among the
buildings and complexes, 61 (81.3%) report
no vacancies, accounting for 60.7% of the total units. Only four buildings and complexes (5.3%) had occupancy rates
below 98%.18
Of occupied housing units, 51% are owner-occupied while 49% are renter-occupied. This is consistent with 1990 and
2000 Census figures.
Housing projections
Housing projections are similar to population projections, in that: (1) the rate of change is assumed to be equally
divided across a period of time (typically 10-year increments), and (2) the number of units is assumed to grow at the
same rate as in the past.19 Therefore, projections are best used as a guideline for potential future conditions. Social
and economic conditions can easily influence the local housing market, which then could result in varying rates of
growth from year to year.
According to Town of Ithaca building permit records, the number of new housing units between 2000 and 2010
increased 24% (539 units to 669 units), resulting in a growth rate of around 2.4% per year. Assuming that the number
of housing units continues to grow at a rate of around 2.4% per year, the Town could expect an additional ±1,859
new housing units by 2030.20 What follows is a more detailed analysis of housing development in the Town, using
Town building permit records.
B.3.3 Housing unit analysis: Town building permit records
Town of Ithaca building permit records in the last thirty years show a total of 2,039 new housing units between 1980
and 2010 (including independent senior units but not assisted living, nursing home, hospice units, or student
18 A Downtown Housing Strategy in the City of Ithaca, New York , p 3‐10, Datner Company LLC for the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, 2011.
http://www.tompkins‐co.org/planning/housing_choices/documents/ApartmentAnalysisdowntownfinal_8_2012.pdf
19 Lab No. 3: Population Projections and Scale, Ines M. Miyares, Professor and Chair, Department of Geography, Hunter College.
http://geo.hunter.cuny.edu
20 Based on a housing projection formula described in in Appendix E.
Summerhill Apartments
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐40
housing). Specifically, there were 831 total new housing units in the Town between 1980 and 1989, 539 total new
housing units between 1990 and 1999, and 669 total new housing units between 2000 and 2010. This amounts to an
increase of about 68 new housing units in the Town per year since 1980.
1990 to 1999
Nearly 63% of the 539 new housing units built in this decade were single or two-family homes, particularly in
subdivisions like Deer Run and Chase Farm son South Hill; Sanctuary Drive, Birchwood Drive, and Briarwood Drive
on East Hill; and Saponi Meadows, the Ecovillage First Neighborhood (FRoG), Woolf Lane subdivision, and
Evergreen Lane in the West Hill/Inlet Valley area.
Town building permit records also showed the development of senior housing: the Ithacare/Longview senior
apartment building on Danby Road (80 independent apartment units and ±100 assisted-living units), the Sterling
House/Sterling Cottage/Alterra senior assisted-living building on Mecklenburg Road (78 assisted living units), and
the Hospicare six-bed hospice facility on East King Road.
The table below lists the number of building permits issued between January 1990 and December 1999, not including
senior assisted living or university/college residential housing.
Building permits issued January 1990 ‐ December 1999 (number of units) | Town of Ithaca
Year Single family units Two family units Units in multi‐unit
structures Additional units Total
1990 36 4 0 4 44
1991 38 0 0 3 41
1992 41 8 0 8 57
1993 29 18 0 6 53
1994 20 12 0 1 33
1995 18 6 0 4 28
1996 4 40 0 3 47
1997 12 20 86 6 124
1998 13 12 0 6 31
1999 12 2 64 3 81
Total 223 122 150 44 539
Building permits issued January 1990 ‐ December 1999 (number of units) | Town of Ithaca
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999Housing unitsSingle family units
Two family units
Units in multi ‐unit structures
Additional units
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐41
2000 to 2010
Town of Ithaca building permit records in the last ten years showed a total of 669 new housing units; 270 of those
units were single- and two-family homes. Contrary to the previous decade, single- and two-family units only
accounted for 40% of the total new units in the Town between 2000 and January 2010. Also, units in multi-unit
housing accounted for 44% of the total new units. Most of the single- and two family units built between 2000 and
2010 occurred in subdivisions like Southwoods and Westview Subdivisions, along with Pennsylvania Ave, East King
Road, Troy Road, and Saunders Road on South Hill; Park Lane, Fairway Drive, and Briarwood Drive on East Hill;
and Ecovillage Second Neighborhood (SoNG), Bostwick Road, West Haven Road, and Hayts Road on West
Hill/Inlet Valley.
Senior housing constructed in the last decade includes the Conifer Village Senior Apartments (72 units), Ellis Hollow
Senior Apartment addition (four units added to 100 existing units), Ithacare/Longview Senior Assisted Living
addition (32 units), and the Claussen Home Health/Old Hundred Nursing Home (seven bed facility).
The table below lists the number of building permits issued between January 2000 and December 2009, not including
senior assisted-living or university/college residential housing.
Building permits issued January 2000 – December 2009 (number of units) | Town of Ithaca
Year Single family units Two family units Units in multi‐unit
structures Additional units Total
2000 15 6 24 1 46
2001 10 18 20 1 49
2002 19 22 93 6 140
2003 27 14 24 5 70
2004 34 2 0 3 39
2005 35 2 76 2 115
2006 15 4 136 4 159
2007 13 4 0 0 17
2008 15 4 0 3 22
2009 3 8 0 1 12
Totals: 186 84 373 26 669
Building permits issued January 2000 – December 2009 (number of units) | Town of Ithaca
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Housing unitsSingle family
units
Two family
units
Units in multi ‐
unit structures
Additional
units
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐42
Residential development 1980‐2010 | Town of Ithaca
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐43
Housing distribution/concentration
Like population distribution, East Hill has historically contained the majority of new housing units (64% of the new
housing units between 1980 and 1990, followed by South Hill at 25% and West Hill at 11%). However, a good
amount of residential development has been shifting from East Hill to South Hill since the 1960’s. Even more
recently, West Hill has been the area where the majority of new multi-unit residential development has occurred.
Town building permit records between 1980 and 2010 show that East Hill contained 38% of the total new housing
units in that 32-year period (2,039 total units), West Hill contained 33% of the total new units, and South Hill
contained 29% of the total new housing units. This is a significant, but not surprising, shift in housing distribution, as
South and West Hills have much more vacant land and development potential than East Hill.
The following charts show the percentage of the total number of housing units (2,039 total units from Town building
permit records) per location, broken down into 10-year segments. Similar information is shown on the Residential
development 1980-2010 map from the previous page.
According to the charts and the map, the housing distribution in the last thirty years suggests that the population has
indeed been shifting to the South Hill and West Hill areas of the Town.
Location of new housing units January 1980 – January 2010 | Town of Ithaca
West Hill
10%
East Hill
64%
South Hill
26%
January 1980 to December 1989
West Hill
32%
East Hill
22%
South Hill
46%
January 1990 to December 1999
West Hill
61%
East Hill
20%
South Hill
19%
January 2000 to January 2010
B.3.4 Housing types
The 2000 Census reported that single- and two-family homes were the most prominent types of housing in the Town
of Ithaca, although the largest increase noted were apartment buildings with three or more units. Building permit
records from 1980 to January 2010 concur with Census data: single- and two-family homes made up 61% of the total
new housing units, followed by units in multi-unit structures (31%).
Location
The chart below illustrates the types of new housing units located in the East Hill, South Hill, and West Hill areas of
the Town between 1980 and 2010. (Group quarters, such as university or college residential housing, were not
included in the calculations for new multi-unit structures. "Additional" units refers to units added to existing single-,
two-family or three-family structures.)
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐44
Housing types by location December 1980 – January 2010 (new unit total: 2,039) | Town of Ithaca
499
454
287
164
114
113
30
19359
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
East Hill
South Hill
West Hill / Inlet Valley
1‐ and 2‐
family units
Units in multi‐
unit structures
Additional
units
According to the chart, East Hill contains the largest number of single- and two-family units, while West Hill contains
the highest number of units in multi-unit structures.
East Hill
Between 1980 and 2010, East Hill contained 40% of the new single family and two-family housing units in the Town
and 26% of the new multi-unit development. Although East Hill has seen a decline in new single- and two-family
home construction since the 1960s, it has contained the majority of new "additional" units; specifically the addition
of smaller apartment units to existing single-family homes. East Hill captured 70% of those new additional units in
the Town in the last thirty years.
South Hill
South Hill contained 37% of the new single- and two-family units in the Town in the last thirty years. South Hill also
contained 18% of new multi-unit structures and 19% of the new additional units in the Town. As stated earlier, most
of the single- and two-family housing development on South Hill occurred in subdivision developments like Deer
Run, Chase Farm, Southwoods, and Westview.
West Hill
The West Hill/Inlet Valley area contained 23% of new single family and two-family units between 1980 and January
2010. West Hill also accounted for 56% of the new multi-unit structures and 12% of additional units in the Town.
All of the new units in multi-unit structures on West Hill were the result of the development of Linderman Creek
Apartments Phases I-III, Conifer Senior Apartments, and the Overlook at Westhill complex.
B.3.5 Structure age
The Town of Ithaca contains a mix of older homes and new construction. 46% of the total housing stock in the
Town was built before 1970.21 Another 42% was built between 1970 and 1999, and around 11% was built in 2000 or
later.22 The table below shows the distribution of housing units built within various year ranges.
21 2008‐2012 American Community Survey
22 Ibid
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐45
Age of housing structures | Town of Ithaca
Year built Number of units % of units
2010 or later 6 .1%
2000 to 2009 815 11%
1990 to 1999 886 12%
1980 to 1989 1,014 13.7%
1970 to 1979 1,244 16.8%
1960 to 1969 1,009 13.6%
1950 to 1959 896 12.1%
1940 to 1949 392 5.3%
1939 or earlier 1,145 15.5%
Source: 2008‐2012 American Community Survey
B.3.6 Housing values and sales
The 1993 Comprehensive Plan reported that the median home value in the Town increased 127% between 1980 and
1990, from $62,200 to $141,200. Similarly, the 2000 Census reported that the median home value in the Town of
Ithaca was $140,000; and the largest single percentage of homes valued between $100,000 and $149,999.
The most recent American Community Survey estimated the median home value to be $229,000 for the years
between 2008 and 2012, with more than one-third of homes valued between $200,000 and $299,999.
The table below shows the number of housing structures within each value range listed in the American Community
Survey, with the median value and largest percentage range highlighted:
Value of housing structures
Value Number of units % of units
Less than $50,000 98 2.6%
$50,000 to $99,999 135 3.6%
$100,000 to $149,999 474 12.6%
$150,000 to $199,999 703 18.6%
$200,000 to $299,999 1,280 33.9%
$300,000 to $499,999 857 22.7%
$500,000 to $999,999 173 4.6%
$1,000,000 or more 51 1.4%
Total 3,771 100%
Source: 2008‐2012 American Community Survey
The Tompkins County Assessment Department reported slightly lower median home values than the Census and
ACS figures, noting that the median home value in the Town of Ithaca in 2009 was $195,000 (still a 39% increase
from the Census 2000 median value).23 However, the Assessment Department also reported the 2009 average home
value in the Town of Ithaca to be $219,352, which coincides with the largest range of home values noted in the table
above. The County Assessment figures accounted for one-, two-, or three-family homes in the Town of Ithaca located
on lots less than 10 acres.
23 2010 phone conversation with Tompkins County Assessment Department
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐46
The Tompkins County Assessment Department also reported information on home sales since 2000. According to
their information, 1,657 homes were sold in the Town of Ithaca between 2000 and 2009.24 Average sale price for a
home in 2000 was $122,954, compared with $213,031 in 2009. That amounts to a 73% increase in home sale prices
in nine years.
B.3.7 Household income and affordability
Cost of home ownership in the Town of Ithaca has increased in the last twenty years. The Town’s 1993
Comprehensive Plan asserted that housing built in the Town between 1950 and 1970 was usually more affordable,
even when brand new.
The need for housing that is affordable, particularly to those in the median-income range, has become increasingly
important to the Town of Ithaca. The Tompkins County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment (prepared in 2006 by
Economic and Policy Resources, Inc., for the Tompkins County Planning Department) indicated that more housing
was needed at all cost levels; but that the gap between supply and demand was most critical for housing that is
affordable to families in the "median income" range.
The U.S. Census definition of median income is the amount which divides the income distribution into two equal
groups - half having income above that amount and half having income below that amount. As of the 2010 Census,
the Town of Ithaca median household income was $55,934. The 2010 median sale price for a house according to the
Ithaca Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service was $209,500.
According to United Stated Housing and Urban Development standards, the definition of ‘cost burden’ considers the
percentage of household income spent for mortgage costs or gross rent. Families who pay more than 30 percent of
their income for housing are considered cost burdened, which means that they may have difficulty affording
necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care. The Affordable Housing Needs Assessment
study noted that a household making 100% of the County median household income in 2004 ($42,899) could afford a
home that cost $127,959—which was less than both the median price and the average sales price for a home in both
the Town of Ithaca and in Tompkins County at that time. This means that households at 100% of the County
median household income in 2004 could not afford the average single-family home in the County, and were therefore
considered cost burdened.25
Rental costs are slightly more affordable to more households than homeownership costs. According to the Affordable
Housing Needs Assessment study, roughly 90% of the renter units in the County were affordable to households at or
below 100% of the County median household income - although renters at the lower end of the income spectrum
experienced more affordability difficulty than renters at the higher income levels. On the other hand, the report
analysis also indicated that nearly one-third of non-student renters spent more than 50% of their income on rent.
The Housing Goals and Objectives section explores strategies that will increase the supply of rental and homeowner
housing that is affordable to median-income residents.
B.3.8 Aging in place
The Demographics section noted that the senior population had the greatest increase in numbers in the Town of
Ithaca in the last 20 years. This is a national trend that is expected to continue. The senior population will require
24 Multiyear county housing sales chart produced by Tompkins County Assessment Department, http://www.tompkins‐
co.org/assessment/yrsales.pdf
25 Information from the Tompkins County Assessment Department.
Town of Ithaca 2014 Comprehensive Plan B‐47
specialized services as they continue to age, particularly the baby-boom generation that is beginning to reach
retirement age.
The Town may need to develop additional services in the future to accommodate the needs of the aging segments of
the community. In terms of housing, the Town can promote Universal Design principles in new home construction.
Universal Design includes installing universal features in homes, like wider entranceways and wider doors that can
accommodate wheelchairs, flat entrances, and door and drawer knobs that don’t require twisting or gripping.
Universal Design also involves constructing homes so that first-floor spaces can be easily converted into additional
bedroom and bathroom facilities. These basic construction techniques can provide seniors with the option to keep
their homes longer and therefore age in place.