Building a Housing Strategy for Mariposa County
Client: Mariposa County, California
Service Area: Housing Needs Assessment & Housing Strategy
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40
Housing Units Built in Previous Decade
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400+
Housing Units Built Since Adoption
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Unanimous
Board of Supervision Approval
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17K+
Residents Served
The Challenge
Between 2007 and 2017, Mariposa County, which includes Yosemite National Park, produced just 40 new housing units over an entire decade. The resulting shortage touched households at every income level, from low-income residents seeking subsidized housing to professionals seeking market-rate rentals.
The severity of the crisis was brought into sharp relief when the County's newly hired Deputy County Administrator nearly resigned — not over the job itself, but because he could not find a place to live within 30 miles of work. A comprehensive, actionable housing strategy was urgently needed.
Our Approach
CTY Housing was engaged to co-author two foundational documents: an Assessment of Housing Conditions and a Comprehensive Housing Implementation Plan. Together, these reports would diagnose the root causes of the housing shortage and chart a practical course forward.
Phase 1
CTY Housing led the research effort to understand the forces constraining Mariposa County's housing market and the community — a clear-eyed picture of why housing production had stalled, and what systemic issues any solution would need to address.
Phase 2: Community Outreach and Engagement
A community advisory committee was formed to meet regularly throughout the engagement, receiving research findings as they emerged and providing ongoing input to guide the work.
Community Survey and Town Hall: The town hall presentation included findings from the Assessment report and conducting an in-person survey to assess resident priorities and identify the housing programs and policies that would resonate most with the community.
Phase 3: The Implementation Plan
CTY Housing conceptualized the research methodology for the Implementation Plan and drafted the majority of the report, which provided a timeline for implementing a series of recommendations, including financing, land use reform, creating a new position in the county administrator’s office to coordinate multiple departments to create an environment more hospitable to housing development.
Deliverables
Housing Conditions Assessment
Town Hall Meeting
Comprehensive Housing Implementation Plan
The Result
The Comprehensive Housing Implementation Plan gave Mariposa County a clear roadmap — grounded in community input and rigorous analysis — for reversing more than a decade of housing production stagnation. In the 8 years since the report was adopted more than 400 units of housing have been built in the County.