While affordable housing was a hot topic in mayoral races across the country, from Boise, Idaho, to Orlando, Fla., only two cities had major affordable housing propositions on the ballots on Election Day.
In San Francisco, it appears that Proposition A, which is said to be San Francisco’s largest affordable housing bond ever, will pass. While mail-in and provisional ballots still need to be counted, the measure, which needs a two-thirds majority to pass, currently has69% of the vote, according to the City and County of San Francisco Department of Elections.
The $600 million bond measure would help finance the development, acquisition, and preservation of affordable housing for extremely low-, low-, and middle-income households; repair and rebuild distressed and dilapidated public housing developments; assist middle-income residents in finding affordable rental or homeownership opportunities; and support the new construction of affordable housing for San Francisco Unified School District and City College of San Francisco employees.
In addition, Proposition E, which would amend the planning code to allow for affordable and educator housing to be built on public land and expedite city approval of these developments, is passing by 74% of the vote.
Across the country, Durham voters overwhelmingly passed a $95 million affordable housing bond measure with almost 76% of the vote.
According to the city of Durham, the bond would be combined with $65 million from local and federal funding for a total of $160 million to fund the city’s Affordable Housing Bond Investment Plan. This city aims to increase affordable housing by working closely with the Durham Housing Authority to:
- Build 1,600 new affordable housing units and preserve 800 affordable units;
- Move 1,700 homeless individuals and households into permanent housing;
- Provide 400 affordable homeownership opportunities for first-time home buyers; and
- Help 3,000 low-income renters and homeowners remain in or improve their homes.
