WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Emeryville, Fresno, Needles, Rancho Cordova, Redwood City, Riverside, Salinas, Stockton, and Ukiah, and the counties of San Diego and Yuba have been designated as Prohousing communities and are eligible for funding incentives and additional resources through state grant programs to speed the production of housing. To date, a total of 22 California communities are now designated as Prohousing.
SACRAMENTO – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that 11 more communities have earned the distinction of being named Prohousing for their commitment to build more housing, faster. This designation will help unlock additional funds allowing communities to scale up their efforts to meet critical housing needs.
What Governor Newsom said: “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. Instead of making excuses, these jurisdictions are rising to the challenge, making difficult choices and ensuring that Californians have access to needed housing.”
Why It’s Important: It is vital for local governments to build their fair share of housing and implement policies that increase production to help meet our collective goal of 2.5 million new homes over the next eight years, with at least one million serving the needs of lower-income Californians. Under the Newsom Administration, accountability measures and incentives like the Prohousing Designation are a critical part of a multipronged approach to address the state’s housing crisis.
Cities and counties that earn the Prohousing Designation receive incentives such as additional points or other preferences in the scoring of competitive funding programs administered by California’s Housing and Community Development Agency (HCD), giving them an advantage over other jurisdictions. They are also eligible for the Prohousing Incentive Pilot (PIP) Program that rewards Prohousing communities at the forefront in addressing California’s housing crisis with additional funding to accelerate affordable housing production.
“These 11 jurisdictions join 11 others in committing to create the right mix of housing near jobs, transit, health care, and key amenities to build strong, thriving communities,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez. “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.”
To earn the Prohousing Designation, cities and counties must demonstrate they are promoting climate-smart housing development by enacting Prohousing policies, including but not limited to streamlining multifamily housing developments, up-zoning in places near jobs and transit to reduce emissions, and creating more affordable homes in places that historically or currently exclude households of color and those earning lower incomes.
“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. “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.”
Governor Newsom’s 2019-2020 budget established the Prohousing Designation Program as part of a spectrum of support, incentives, and accountability measures to help meet California’s housing goals.
The 11 communities announced today join the cities of Los Angeles, El Cerrito, Citrus Heights, Fontana, Oakland, Roseville, San Diego, West Sacramento, and Sacramento, and the counties of Sacramento and Placer in earning a Prohousing Designation.
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