The Affordable Housing Siting Policy will update how and where San Jose’s affordable housing funding resources are invested. This policy is an effort to address the racist policies of redlining, segregation, and discrimination that have shaped our City and the life expectancies of all of us who live here. Starting last year, this discussion has been dominated by maps that divide the City into “high” and “low,” “good” and “bad” areas, “worthy” and “unworthy” of investment. The focus of the City needs to be on expanding access to areas with resources and investing resources in communities that have been harmed by past and present disinvestment by the public and the private sectors.
This is an important opportunity to tell the City that affordable housing is a community asset, not a burden. We can expand affordable choices in wealthy neighborhoods without depriving historically underinvested communities of access to affordable housing, which increases the staying power of those communities.
As advocates for equity in affordable housing opportunities, we must push back and be heard at these siting policy meetings:
- San Jose needs more affordable housing – everywhere
- Maps that divide the City into good and bad categories must not be allowed to determine where we invest in affordable housing opportunities
- The new Siting Policy must recognize that affordable homes are an asset to every community
- We must commit to overcoming barriers to inclusion and choice in areas that have been exclusive and had few affordable options
- We must invest in affordable housing in underinvested communities where the residents are most vulnerable to displacement.
