Hello John,

I'm so excited to share our just-released report with you today. In the midst of regional and national conversations around how to respond to and recover from COVID-19 and address racial equity in housing, NPH’s latest paper examines the local intersection of housing justice, racial justice, and public health and offers concrete recommendations on how to embed a regional housing strategy ahead.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, long before the COVID-19 global pandemic swept through our region, safe, stable, and affordable housing was far from accessible to all. However, as Bay Area communities confront the global pandemic, an economic downturn that rivals that of The Great Depression, and recent cases of police brutality, murder, and racial profiling directed at low-income communities of color, especially our Black and Brown neighbors, the region’s housing crisis has been exacerbated and disparities exposed.

In spite of these harrowing times, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) are poised to make big, bold meaningful changes for the Bay Area to lead us out of this crisis, plan for future emergencies and natural disasters, and chart a recovery path forward to ensure that our region remains resilient and recommitted to racial justice and economic equity.

The Road Ahead: A 21st Century Housing Strategy for the San Francisco Bay Area outlines why and how MTC and ABAG can develop, approve, and implement a comprehensive housing strategy for the Bay Area that will guide both agencies’ existing housing portfolio, the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA), Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA), Plan Bay Area 2050, and their various housing programs, policies, and decision-making processes.

At the NPH 41st Annual Affordable Housing Conference held virtually just last month, our keynote plenary invited our attendees to imagine a more racially just, equitable, and liberated future. With this report, NPH offers clear recommendations on how to bring that future forward.