SCAG Announces HELPR 3.0: A Next-Generation Tool for Housing, Land Use, and Sustainability
The Housing, Environment, and Land Use Parcel Tool (HELPR) 3.0, the latest version of SCAG’s HELPR interactive mapping tool, is now available online. Designed to empower local jurisdictions and stakeholders, HELPR 3.0 is a site-specific online interactive mapping tool to support data-driven decision-making in land use, environmental planning, and sustainable development. HELPR 3.0 is a valuable resource for cities, planners, and stakeholders to streamline housing site selection and sustainable land use planning.
HELPR 3.0 incorporates the most current data from the Connect SoCal 2024 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy, offering up-to-date insights for land use and transportation planning. Built using SCAG’s Regional Data Platform, the tool provides detailed parcel-level data, enabling users to explore site-specific characteristics to inform land use and development decisions. Users can also easily download tabular and spatial datasets for further analysis and integration into external planning systems.
Additionally, the tool allows users to explore regional policy objectives outlined in Connect SoCal 2024 at the local or site level, helping align regional priorities with specific planning goals.
HELPR 3.0 also includes a wildfire risk screening feature, which identifies high and very high wildfire risk zones through the Green Regional Resources Area filter. This data intersects CalFire State Responsibility Areas Fire Hazard Severity zones, identifying high and very high severity risk areas from the Sept. 29, 2023, state dataset and effective Apr. 1, 2024. This data represents risks related to ground wildfire spread, which differs from the extreme wind conditions responsible for the extensive spread of recent Los Angeles wildfires into urban neighborhoods.
Given the increasingly urgent need to produce housing due to recent disasters and consequent displacement, HELPR 3.0 can assist jurisdictions and the building industry with a data-driven approach to site selection.
HELPR 3.0 does not assess development capacity or suitability and does not represent SCAG’s or any local jurisdiction’s opinion on development constraints. Furthermore, the California Department of Housing and Community Development retains the authority to determine whether a site is suitable for housing element updates.
To learn more about applications and maps created by SCAG to assist with regional and local planning activities, visit SCAG’s Regional Data Platform. You may also contact SCAG’s Local Information Services Team at LIST@scag.ca.gov.