November 17, 2023

The San Francisco Anti Displacement Coalition (SFADC), the Race & Equity in all Planning Coalition - San Francisco (REP-SF), and the Council of Community Housing Organizations (CCHO) submit this letter to express our grave concerns regarding the "San Francisco Housing Policy and Practice Review" (PPR) released by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on October 25, 2023.

August 1, 2023

We appreciate HCD engaging in this important conversation regarding the Opportunity Framework, and the recognition that new approaches are needed to achieve fair housing opportunities in high resource communities while concurrently implementing community stabilization measures in historically disinvested neighborhoods.

December 2, 2021

Dear Director Velasquez,

We are seeking your support regarding the application of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing principles to the Housing Element in San Francisco. Your support is more critical than ever as San Francisco finalizes its Housing Element. This is especially important given the escalating erosion of affordable housing opportunities in San Francisco, particularly in our historic cultural neighborhoods and ethnic enclaves in what has become one of the nation’s highest-cost cities.

September 15, 2022

On August 8th, the Department of Housing and Community (DHCD) wrote San Francisco Planning Director Rich Hillis highlighting the changes that the DHCD deems necessary to bring San Francisco’s Housing Element into compliance with various state mandates. This letter affirmed DHCD’s mandate to boost San Francisco’s overall housing production to 82,069 units, 57% of which or 46,598 units would have to below-market-rate including 20,867 units for very low income residents, 12,014 units for low-income residents, and 13,717 units for moderate-income residents.

May 10th, 2021

This piece concludes the Council of Community Housing Organizations’ series of essays on California’s complex housing affordability crisis, and the need for regional, place-based solutions.

Previous essays in the series:

• Tackling Exclusionary Housing Policy in California

• The Missing Piece in the Housing Crisis: The Fall in Single-Family Homes

• Rethinking the Suburbs Is Integral to California’s Housing Solution

• How Do We Make Regional Housing Policy Equitable?

December 1, 2020

Just two weeks ago, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) released the new Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA, pronounced “Reena”) determination for the 9-county Bay Area. It says that a whopping 450,000 homes need to be built, and 57% of them need to be affordable homes!

February 11, 2020

“Rethinking The Suburbs” is an essay series seeking to advance the public understanding of housing conditions in the Bay Area suburbs. Part I of the series started in 2018. The series explores housing strategies in the context of the post-Great Recession period of the past decade that has set up our current policy environment.

January 8, 2020

In our first blog post of 2020, CCHO identifies some of the biggest barriers in solving our affordability challenges, followed by next steps toward solutions. 

December 8, 2019

Think global, act local.

October 10, 2019

Addressing our residents’ housing needs, like addressing health-care, education, or climate change adaptation, is an ongoing battle, with many solutions brought to bear at the right times and in the right places. But as with climate change, we can’t wait long for solutions. Propositions A and E, funding and land, are part of that battle and are two great big opportunities to win!

September 15, 2019

A recent Jobs-Housing Nexus Study found that for every 100,000-square-foot office development, at least 81 new affordable housing units are needed just to house the lower wage workers in those offices, not counting all the contract employees such as janitors

August 1, 2019

MOHCD’s leadership transition opens an opportunity to reflect on the department’s roots in community development while also responding to the tidal wave of evictions and exploding housing costs brought on by the tech economy.

July 7, 2019

SF Examiner published an op-ed on an upcoming housing package on the November 2019 ballot, penned by CCHO alongside affordable housing and anti-displacement advocates.

June 20, 2019

Come out this Thursday, February 14 (VDAY) to the Planning Commission informational hearing on the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA). There will be space for public comment BEFORE the hearing where you will be able to express how important it is to preserve existing housing and ensure affordable housing for all!

June 5, 2019.

This is a critical time for San Francisco’s housing future. The investment is not only an opening for a long-term strategy to protect our existing residents and house our future generations, but a critical down-payment, and a big one, toward tackling this affordability crisis.

April 8, 2019

The Jobs-Housing Linkage (JHL) fee provides much needed funding to provide housing for these workers since their wages do not allow them to afford market-rate housing, essentially partially mitigating the impact of increased housing needs that new commercial development projects create.

March 31, 2019

Passing COPA is the next big step in a comprehensive community stabilization and affordable housing strategy, one that begins with addressing people where they are at: in their homes.

December 13, 2018

The most important package of development policies for the Bay Area — that you’ve probably never heard of — is being decided today.

November 11, 2018

Tuesday’s election was a victory for affordable housing at the state and local ballot.

September 26, 2018

The current essay dives into the issue of exclusionary practices that have exacerbated the housing crisis and offers some policy solutions.