We co-hosted the Oakland Special Election Candidate Forum in Downtown Oakland last week. This event brought together six candidates vying for both the Mayor’s office and District 2 Council office ahead of the special election that will be held on April 15th.

With HAC's coverage of this annual event, you can learn:

• How we can decrease rent costs in the Bay Area

• The policy amendments needed to jumpstart housing production

• Why homebuilders, elected officials, and labor leaders need to work together

• How we can make San Francisco a more inclusive city

• And more!

On Wednesday, October 18th the Housing Action Coalition was proud to host our 21st Annual Housing Heroes at the Salesforce Transit Center. Here’s a recap of the event:

Fehr & Peers’ Principal Matt Goyne and Transportation Engineer Nina Price presented about the intersection of transportation, housing, and the climate crisis. Their presentation focused on how higher density housing goes hand-in-hand with more public transportation access, less parking, and less vehicle miles traveled (VMT).

This month, HAC hosted our quarterly Members Only Breakfast Briefing, where Executive Director Corey Smith shared an overview of the organization’s progress and priorities. Throughout the year, HAC has been active with multiple pieces of legislation making its way through Sacramento. HAC Sponsored Bills Assembly Bill 281 (permit review timelines), Assembly Bill 1114 (ministerial building permits), and Assembly Bill 1485 (clarifying AG’s ability to intervene in housing lawsuits) are all still alive and we expect them to be signed into law. On the other hand, HAC sponsored bills Senate Bill 83 (timelines for utilities), Assembly Bill 990 (streamlining protections), and Assembly Bill 1630 (ministerial approval + density bonus for off-campus student housing) did not proceed this session.

With the theme of Innovation in Housing, our 17th Annual Spring Symposium featured conversations with housing experts from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors exploring new solutions to our region and state’s longstanding housing shortage and affordability challenges.

What do the Bay Area and Los Angeles have in common? Temperate weather, coastal views, and a severe housing shortage, displacement, and affordability crisis. Despite being two distinct regions, the two metropolitan areas are both saddled with record rates of homelessness, widespread rent burden, and rapid rates of displacement. What’s more, many of these issues are driven by NIMBYism and years of bad policy decisions like single-family zoning that have restricted growth and led to exorbitant housing costs.

Everything we do at the Housing Action Coalition is a team effort and we enormously appreciate our longtime friends and partners at Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP for teaming up with us once again as Presenting Sponsor of our 2021 Housing Heroes awards program. 

On Wednesday, October 13 from 5pm to 6pm, the Housing Action Coalition (HAC) will present four “Housing Heroes” awards to individuals and teams who have made exceptional contributions to creating more housing at all levels of affordability, and fostering more diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities across the Bay Area. 

The Housing Heroes Awards is annual an event to celebrate the leaders who have made exceptional contributions to creating more housing at all levels of affordability and fostering more diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities across the Bay Area and California.

As part of our June 15 How to Implement Upzoning discussion, panelist Stefan Pellegrini from Opticos Design included a compelling presentation about the importance of “Missing Middle” housing and how cities can build more of it.

Many thanks to everyone who tuned in to Building Momentum: The Housing Action Coalition’s 15th Annual Spring Symposium! If you missed the live event, or want to relive the experience, our program video is now available.

On Wednesday, May 26 from 11:45am to 1:30pm, the Housing Action Coalition (HAC) will bring together hundreds of pro-housing organizations, elected officials, and neighbors to hear from local, state, and national leaders about new opportunities and strategies for alleviating the Bay Area and California’s housing shortage, displacement, and affordability crisis. HUD Senior Advisor for Housing and Services Richard Cho will also discuss the Biden Administration’s national initiatives to Build Back Better when it comes to advancing new solutions to address the nation’s accelerating housing crisis. 

From ending exclusionary zoning to legalizing more affordable housing, it’s an especially exciting and promising time to work in housing. The growing movement for more equitable, affordable, and inclusive housing across the Bay Area is why the theme of HAC’s recently-announced Spring Symposium is Building Momentum, and it’s also why everyone at HAC is busier than ever.

All of us at SFHAC and BayHAC are incredibly grateful to our longstanding friends and partners at Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP for supporting our 18th Annual Housing Heroes Awards as the Presenting Sponsor.

The San Francisco Housing Action Coalition and Bay Area Housing Advocacy Coalition are proud to have Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP as the Presenting Sponsor of the 18th Annual Housing Heroes Awards.

SFHAC members and guests were treated to another sneak peak of an in-the-work project to build more homes in San Francisco, exploring a former power station building and historic stack planned for renovation and rehabilitation as part of a multi-year cleanup of a more than 6 acre site.

SFHAC enjoyed a visit from a group of students from the University of Seoul in South Korea this week, with both teams co-presenting research and work exploring everything from the roots of the housing crisis in California to the recent interest in large-scale experimental co-housing projects in Seoul and it’s suburbs as the country works to provide hundred of thousands of promised and much-needed new homes.

The San Francisco Housing Action Coalition is pleased to announce that our 2019 Housing Hero Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented by none other than the city’s own.

The San Francisco Housing Action Coalition is proud to announce both the Presenting and Legacy Sponsors of the 17th Annual Housing Hero Awards, Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP and Related California!