San Gabriel Valley Community Land Trust Study
A regional coalition sought to determine whether a community land trust would be viable, and if so, where it should begin.
Client
Primrose Research Group
Service
Conservation Planning
State
California
Status
Feasibility Study
The San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments and the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust were evaluating whether a regional community land trust could expand and preserve affordable housing across 18 municipalities in Los Angeles County.
Although the public purpose was affordable housing, the planning challenge was familiar: limited funding, many possible locations, different community needs, and a need to determine where investment could produce the greatest benefit.
Terra Alta led the geographic and parcel-level analysis supporting the broader feasibility study.
A land trust prioritization framework applied to affordable housing
Defined the geographic question
The analysis was designed to identify where community land trust investment could have the greatest effect—not simply to describe housing conditions across the region.
This required translating broad affordable-housing goals into geographic criteria that could be evaluated consistently at the community and parcel levels.
Matched strategies to local conditions
Preserving and rehabilitating existing housing, developing new housing, and serving specific populations require different types of properties and community conditions.
Rather than producing one general ranking, Terra Alta evaluated where each strategy would be most appropriate and practical.
Identified gaps in existing services
Housing needs and demographic conditions were considered alongside existing affordable-housing organizations and resources.
This helped distinguish communities with established capacity from places where additional land trust investment could address an unmet need.
Connected need with feasibility
Terra Alta brought together housing need, existing resources, and potential acquisition opportunities in specific locations.
The result gave the broader feasibility study a practical geographic foundation: not only whether a regional community land trust could be created, but where it could begin operating and which strategies it might pursue.
Prioritization is a transferable discipline. Whether the goal is protecting habitat or farmland or expanding affordable housing, the process is similar: define the intended outcomes, measure them using credible data, establish transparent and defensible priorities, and consider what can realistically be acquired.
This project demonstrates Terra Alta applying that framework beyond traditional conservation to a related land-acquisition challenge with a different public purpose.
Valued Partners
18
Municipalities analyzed
457,040
Parcels assessed
5
Affordable housing strategies analyzed
2023
Project completed
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Terra Alta helped develop the prioritization model and contributed the recommendations that turned the analysis into a sequence the County could act on.
Start with the property and the questions
You do not need to know which conservation option is right—or whether conservation makes sense at all. Tell us about the property and what you hope to accomplish. We will help identify what is realistically possible and which paths, if any, are worth pursuing.