Housing and mobility options enable families to be more self-sufficient and businesses to be more profitable, while creative development allows for new ways to address community issues. The region has a view to improve with appropriate, affordable housing for all residents, as well as varied land uses to support diverse business development, economic growth and different types of active outdoor lifestyles.

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The percentage of homes considered affordable for families making the median income began to decrease due to the rise in the median sales price since 2011, while family median income has remained almost the same for a decade, until just recently. The 2016 median sales price was as high as pre-recession prices, and continues to rise to new highs annually.

The County Health Rankings measure severe housing problems as the percentage of households with at least 1 of 4 housing problems: overcrowding (>1.5 persons/room), high housing costs (monthly >50% of income, excluding utilities), or lack of kitchen or plumbing facilities. Inadequate or poor quality housing contributes to health problems such as infectious and chronic diseases, injuries and child development issues.  Adequate housing should provide a sense of privacy, security, stability and control. The top US performers have 9% severe housing problems, substantially below Washoe County.

Access to affordable and reliable modes of transportation, plus alternative and active transit options indicate an effective transportation system with a diversity of choices critical to our economy, traffic congestion, and the environment.

The 2040 Regional Transportation Plan set a 15% performance target for alternative mode share use by 2040 in the transit service area. The previous 2035 target of 10% was actually exceeded in the 2015 reporting year. In the future, it would be interesting to identify the percentage of workers over 16 years of age living  within 1/4 mile of an RTC bus stop and riding the bus to work, since the vast majority continue to drive to work alone.