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Housing DC | Message from the Mayor
Housing DC | A Framework for Equity and GrowthA Message from Mayor Muriel Bowser“A fair shot to live and thrive in DC also means that we are big in our thinking about creating and preserving more affordable housing.”– Mayor Bowser, Second Inaugural Address to the District A Direction for the DistrictHousing impacts us all. Today, residents in the District spend more of their income on housing than ever before.Housing affordability is critical for all residents to thrive. Lower housing costs mean residents can afford to live in high opportunity areas, afford medical treatments, buy healthy foods, invest in education, and maintain a high quality of life. How can we prioritize housing affordability for all? We can start by building more housing units for households at all income levels and preserving homes that are already affordable. Over the past 10 years, the District has grown by 34,000 housing units. However, this is still not enough. Our population is projected to keep growing. We must think differently and act boldly to ensure the District is a home for all residents, whether you’ve lived here your entire life or you’ve recently moved here. To make sure the District can be a home for all residents, we must build more housing units.
Read on for our response |
Read on for our responseTo make the District’s vision of housing affordability a reality, Mayor Bowser issued a Mayor's Order that directed District agencies to address housing affordability in the District of Columbia.The order calls on the District to create 36,000 new residential units by 2025 with at least 12,000 of those units being dedicated as affordable to low-income residents, and also calls on preserving an additional 6,000 affordable homes. How can we make this vision a reality? The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and the Office of Planning (OP) have launched the Housing Framework for Equity and Growth. This initiative has three goals:
We’ll need your help reaching the District’s goals. Throughout this initiative, we will be calling on residents to make their voices heard. Ready to dive in? You can start by joining our Housing Framework for Equity and Growth newsletter to stay up-to-date and share your feedback with us.
Our challenges |
Housing Costs are RisingYou've spoken. We're listening. We've heard:
Throughout the summer, District residents made their voices heard by participating in our survey on the current distribution of affordable housing, participating in our Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing (AI) hearing process, providing feedback during Urban Land Institute’s Technical Advisory Panel (TAP), taking our Comprehensive Plan Values survey, joining us at in-person events, and more. You've told us:"My hometown of DC is now too expensive for me to comfortably live in." - Ward 5 resident "Native Washingtonians working in the city are being forced to move out of the city due to higher cost of living." - Ward 7 resident "I want to live in a District that offers everyone opportunities to thrive and succeed." - Ward 2 resident "DC has a vibrant history as "Chocolate City," but as rent continues to climb and the city continues to gentrify, black and brown people are continuing to be disproportionately pushed out of their homes... If there was [only] more equity and equal opportunity." - Ward 1 resident "My family origins are from Washington, DC. I one day want to have the opportunity to become a DC resident again. The expedited gentrification process is pushing people who live in low income housing out and replacing the neighborhoods with living spaces starting at 350k. There is no median; it’s either you make a lot of money or make no money." - Former DC resident Keep making your voice heard: Our PartnersThe Housing Framework for Equity and Growth is supported by our partner agencies: Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), DC Department of Human Services (DHS), and DC Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA).
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