By Dianna Dunne-Vecchio, Content Writer and Marketing Manager
Affordable housing can uplift and transform a community not only through elevating residents’ quality of life, but also increasing diversity, improving neighboring property values, and attracting more businesses and jobs. However, without an adequate supply of affordable housing, communities are deprived of the opportunity to thrive and issues like homelessness, racial inequality, and economic decline can take hold.
Housing California and California Housing Partnership in collaboration with California Budget & Policy Center revealed Roadmap Home 2030 in March. This coalition building effort is designed to help solve the homeless and affordable housing crisis in the state. As stated on the Roadmap Home’s website, it’s the “first comprehensive, evidence-based plan to address the root causes of housing insecurity and homelessness in California” by building affordable homes, protecting low-income renters, ending homelessness, and advancing racial equity and economic inclusion over the next 10 years. Understanding community needs and the role strategic planning plays is a key step in advancing the development of affordable housing in California.
Some statistics the Roadmap Home Report shared are as follows. Over 60% of Californians viewed housing affordability and homelessness as big problems in their parts of the state. Nearly 8 in 10 extremely low-income and over 5 in 10 very low-income households pay over half of their income toward housing. In fact, 52% of Renters are cost-burdened with 27% being severely cost-burdened. When analyzing race/ethnicity, 30% of Black and 22% of Latinx households were severely cost-burdened, compared to 17% for Whites.
To combat these struggles, the Roadmap Home calls for structural change across California, focusing on 51 state and 6 federal policy solutions in five areas: Invest in Our Values, Promote Fairness, Protect People, Reimagine Growth, and Create Efficiency and Accountability. For a deep dive into all of Roadmap Home’s 57 policy solutions, click here. You’ll find the plan’s goals and vision; information on housing need and inequity; policy descriptions, their impact, and the issue area they tackle; and next steps for a thriving and stable future for California. Roadmap Home encourages others to be part of the solution as well and offers ways to get involved.