Eleven new regions designated ‘Prohousing’ communities by Governor Newsom
(The Center Square) – Eleven more communities have been named by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday as “Prohousing” communities.
This designation allows local governments to apply for new grant funding and priority processing or funding points when applying for several funding programs as part of a $26 million state investment from the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund.
Emeryville, Fresno, Needles, Rancho Cordova, Redwood City, Riverside, Salinas, Stockton, and Ukiah, and the counties of San Diego and Yuba join 10 other regions recognized in February as “Prohousing” communities.
“It is very encouraging that so many jurisdictions are demonstrating their firm commitment to addressing housing availability and affordability in California,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez.
Newsom established the program which is part of a vision to build 2.5 million new homes in the coming eight years and presented it in his 2019-2020 budget.
“California’s most vexing issue is also its most shameful: the large and rising number of residents who lack a safe place to call home. In a state with vast amounts of wealth, more than 160,000 of its residents sleep in shelters, cars, or on the street,” Cal Matters reports.
Along with whole-care services which address drug addiction, lack of access, health concerns, affordability and other contributors to homelessness, it all comes down to housing.
“By taking advantage of the tools, technical assistance, funding opportunities, and incentives available to them through HCD, Prohousing communities can scale up their efforts to make a real difference in the work to address a housing crisis many decades in the making.,” Valasquez said.
But building housing as an act of crisis management is not without its impact. Riverside County has seen large swatches of land previously used as grazing fields for sheep and cattle, and agricultural fields become housing communities. More housing, less food grown locally.
“Instead of making excuses, these jurisdictions are rising to the challenge, making difficult choices and ensuring that Californians have access to needed housing,” Newsom said.
Streamlining multifamily housing developments, creating homes near jobs and transportation, building affordable homes for people of color and low-income earners with all construction being climate-smart, are all requirements for “Prohousing” designation.
Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez stated, “We are proud to work with these jurisdictions to create a healthy housing market that offers stability and opportunity to help teachers, mechanics, home health aides and many others find a place to live within a reasonable distance from their jobs and improve their quality of life.”
Accountability measures and incentives like the “Prohousing” Designation are a critical part of Newsom’s multipronged approach to address the state’s housing crisis.
“Remarkably, in just a few weeks since our last announcement, the number of Prohousing Designations has doubled, a testament to the growing number of communities taking responsibility and committing to building their fair share of housing,” the governor said.
Not all is going according to plan. Last month Attorney General Rob Bonta announced “he would sue the city of Huntington Beach, Calif., for not following state housing laws,” according to the Associated Press.
