Priority 4 · Delivery Brief

Housing, Livability, and Community Capacity

Match housing tools to local market conditions. Connect rehabilitation, attainable housing, infrastructure, childcare access, and community amenities with the places people already live and work.

Suggested coordinating lead
Local governments and housing sponsors, with SNMEDD coordination
First delivery milestone
Complete five county housing-action briefs using the 2026 state housing strategy and local evidence. Month 9.
Outcome to track
Homes completed or rehabilitated; occupancy; household cost burden; access to childcare and services
Read the Goal and Measurable Objectives →Compare Milestones and Planning Resources →

Housing and Quality of Place Strategy

Support the housing, community amenities, and quality-of-life conditions necessary to attract and retain workers, families, businesses, students, retirees, military-connected households, and visitors.

Why It Matters

Housing is workforce infrastructure. Quality of place is economic infrastructure.

The CEDS identifies housing availability and affordability as major constraints affecting workforce stability and economic development outcomes. Employers face recruitment challenges when housing is scarce or unaffordable, long commutes affect retention, and workforce investments are less effective when workers cannot find stable housing. The CEDS also identifies broadband, healthcare access, and infrastructure reliability as essential conditions for business competitiveness, household participation, and long-term community stability.

This action plan recognizes that housing, childcare, healthcare, recreation, downtowns, broadband, and community facilities must be treated as part of the region’s economic development system.

County-Specific Strategic Direction

Chaves County

Prioritize workforce housing, affordable housing, redevelopment of existing housing stock, childcare, healthcare access, downtown Roswell vitality, neighborhood reinvestment, and community amenities that support family retention and regional service delivery.

Eddy County

Prioritize housing supply connected to industrial and energy workforce demand, infrastructure that enables residential development, quality-oflife amenities in Carlsbad and Artesia, childcare and healthcare access, and services that help retain workers and families long term.

Lea County

Prioritize workforce and transitional housing, affordable rental options, youth and family amenities, childcare, recreation, public spaces, and community development that helps retain workers beyond energy cycles.

Lincoln County

Prioritize senior housing, aging-in-place, home repair, wildfire recovery, tourism workforce housing, short-term rental impacts, healthcare access, broadband-enabled remote work, and year-round community livability.

Otero County

Prioritize housing that supports military families, civilian workers, tourism employees, young families, and residents connected to federal and defense assets. Quality-of-place investments should include downtown Alamogordo, Cloudcroft, Tularosa, childcare, healthcare, recreation, broadband, and public spaces.

Key Activities

  1. Support county-level and municipal housing assessments where needed.
  2. Identify housing-supportive infrastructure projects, including water, wastewater, roads, drainage, broadband, and utilities.
  3. Encourage housing types aligned with local needs, including workforce rentals, senior housing, starter homes, infill housing, mixed-use downtown housing, manufactured housing improvements, and rehabilitation of existing units.
  4. Convene employers, developers, local governments, and housing partners where workforce availability is constrained by housing supply.
  5. Advance quality-of-place projects tied to parks, recreation, childcare, healthcare, broadband, downtowns, tourism, cultural assets, and public facilities.
  6. Support programs that improve housing stability, such as home repair, aging-in-place, weatherization, and neighborhood reinvestment.
  7. Integrate housing and quality-of-place needs into infrastructure planning and capital funding priorities.

Lead and Supporting Partners

Potential Lead Partners

  • Local Governments
  • Housing Partners
  • SNMEDD

Potential Supporting Partners

  • Local Governments
  • Housing Partners
  • SNMEDD
  • New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority
  • Housing Authorities
  • Private Developers
  • Employers
  • MainStreet Organizations
  • Chambers Of Commerce
  • School Districts
  • Healthcare Providers
  • Childcare Providers
  • USDA Rural Development
  • HUD
  • CDBG Administrators
  • Nonprofit Organizations
  • Community Foundations
  • Local Residents

Estimated Cost Range

Costs will vary based on whether the activity involves housing assessment, infrastructure development, housing rehabilitation, new construction, community facilities, or quality-of-place improvements.

Activity Type Estimated Range
Housing Assessments and Planning $75,000–$300,000
Housing-Supportive Infrastructure $500,000–$25 million+
Housing Development or Rehabilitation Programs $1 million–$50 million+
Parks, Recreation, Downtown, or Public Space Projects $250,000–$10 million+
Childcare, Healthcare, or Community Facility Improvements $500,000–$15 million+

Potential Funding Sources

  • HUD Programs
  • Community Development Block Grant
  • USDA Rural Development
  • New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority
  • State Capital Outlay
  • Local Government Funds
  • Private Developers
  • Employer-Assisted Housing Partnerships
  • EDA Where Eligible
  • Philanthropic Investment
  • Tax Credits
  • Public-Private Partnerships

Performance Measures

  • Number of housing assessments or plans completed.
  • Number of housing units supported, enabled, rehabilitated, or preserved.
  • Number of housing-supportive infrastructure projects advanced.
  • Number of employer-assisted housing conversations or partnerships established.
  • Number of downtown, public space, recreation, or community facility projects completed.
  • Childcare, healthcare, transportation, broadband, or recreation barriers addressed.
  • Reduction in identified housing constraints affecting workforce recruitment.
  • Resident and employer feedback on quality-of-place conditions.

Timeline

  1. Year 1: Identify housing and quality-of-place priorities by county and community.
  2. Years 2-3: Develop partnerships, funding strategies, and fundable projects.
  3. Years 4-5: Implement housing, infrastructure, downtown, recreation, childcare, healthcare, and community facility projects.