State funding for Prohousing-designated cities was released this month, reaffirming how California is incentivizing housing production through investment in long-term projects and infrastructure. Eighteen jurisdictions from around the state who received the Prohousing designation between 2022-2023 were awarded $33 million in total to help accelerate the production and preservation of affordable homes in their regions. Closest to home, the mid-size and small cities of Ukiah, El Cerrito, and Emeryville received an average of half a million dollars in funding to support local housing trusts, transit-oriented development, and other uses to bridge the gap between projects and funding. Although no jurisdictions in Sonoma County are as of yet eligible for these funds, designations are pending for Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, and Healdsburg. Sonoma County and Windsor have also initiated the application process, bringing the total number of applicants from within the County to five – the most in the Bay Area.
Generation Housing will continue to support applications through the collection of best practices and aid in the transition to the implementation phase as soon as jurisdictions are notified. We conducted our second Community Connectors meeting, in which participants advised on the root causes of the housing shortage, including single family zoning, the emphasis on sprawl over infill development, and cities with insufficient mixed-use opportunities to help reduce dependence on cars for basic daily tasks like shopping, child care, and recreation.
If you’d like to learn more about the Community Connectors group, please email Ramon Meraz at ramon@generationhousing.org or Joshua Shipper at joshua@generationhousing.org.