Proposition A would allow San Francisco to borrow up to $300 million by issuing general obligation bonds. The city would use up to $240 million to build, buy or rehabilitate rental housing, including senior housing and workforce housing for low-income households.
Category: Housing
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Elections, Housing, Land use, San Francisco March 2024 Election Guide
Proposition C — Real Estate Transfer Tax Exemption and Office Space Allocation
Proposition C would change San Francisco’s tax policy to allow a one-time transfer tax exemption for owners of properties converted from commercial to residential use the first time they are sold following conversion, as long as the change of use is approved before Jan. 1, 2030.
Posted inAging, Climate Change, Health, Housing, Social Services
For Chinatown’s Older Residents in SROs, Climate Disasters Pose Greater Risks
Chinatown faces higher threats during periods of extreme weather due to a range of socio-economic factors as well as the built environment. Within the neighborhood, older adults living in single-room occupancy buildings are among the populations at heightened risk. Reasons for this include physiological changes related to aging and financial barriers associated with making climate-resiliency adaptations to older buildings.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Housing, Public Housing in Private Hands
After Massive Renovations, Code Violations Rise Steeply in Subsidized Housing
San Francisco started privatizing 29 public housing buildings in the wake of city scandals years ago. Even after $800 million worth of repairs, residents complain about living conditions, combative private management companies and eviction threats.
Posted inCity Hall, Government & Politics, Homelessness, Housing, News
Missed Connections: SF Shelter Hotline Staff Could Not Reach Most People Who Called for Help
Data from San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing show that accessing shelter is very difficult for unhoused people in San Francisco due to a lack of available beds and other barriers.
Posted inHomelessness, Housing
Resource Guide: How You Can Access Shelter in San Francisco
Accessing a shelter bed in San Francisco can be difficult. Check out our resource guide that shows pathways to shelter based on age, gender, family status and more.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Overdose Crisis, Social Services
SF ‘Failing’ on Housing as Overdose Solution, Health Expert Says
Sarah Evans has spent decades advancing drug overdose prevention initiatives around the world. As a division director for Open Society Foundations — a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros — Evans promotes one surefire way to help abate San Francisco’s homelessness and fatal overdose crisis: housing.
“The way that people get off the street is by getting into housing, where people can get support and stay there even while they are continuing to struggle with substance use disorders of all kinds and mental health issues,” said Evans, who leads the organization’s drug policy programs globally. “It literally is the only way.”
San Francisco isn’t doing enough to meet this housing need, according to health experts.
Posted inBay Area, Homelessness, Housing, Neighborhoods, Public Safety, Social Services
Berkeley Says It Was Aggressive in Homeless Encampment Sweeps, Promises Reforms
Berkeley is accelerating plans to more humanely deal with homelessness in the wake of a San Francisco Public Press report on a chaotic encampment raid in October, and city staffers say they will start collaborating with unhoused people and homeless advocates when planning to clean or clear large encampments.
Several city departments are changing procedures in response to complaints from those living in encampments and their advocates, and from residential and commercial neighbors.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing, Land use, Public Housing in Private Hands
Emergency Repairs in Public Housing Complex Are Behind Schedule as Owner Advances Redevelopment Plans
One year after emergency repairs were supposed to be completed at Plaza East, 39 units are still waiting on fixes. Meanwhile, in late May, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development gave the complex a failing score of 40 out of 100 following physical inspection.
Posted inClimate Change, Economy & Business, Housing, Land use, News, Sea Level Rise
Promising to Prevent Floods at Treasure Island, Builders Downplay Risk of Sea Rise
Sea level rise is forcing cities around San Francisco Bay to weigh demand for new housing against the need to protect communities from flooding. Builders say they can solve this dilemma with cutting-edge civil engineering. But no one knows whether their ambitious efforts will be enough to keep newly built waterfront real estate safe in coming decades.
Meanwhile, developers are busy building — and telling the public that they can mitigate this one effect of climate change, despite mounting evidence that it could be a bigger problem than previously believed.