This East Bay city is the first in the Bay Area to win the state’s ‘pro-housing’ designation

Oakland is the first Bay Area city to win the state’s “pro-housing” designation, giving it a leg up in competing for scarce affordable housing funding as a reward for removing barriers to building more homes.

The city on Tuesday announced Oakland is now one of only seven jurisdictions in California to receive the distinction.

To earn its spot, Oakland has committed to speeding up its often years-long planning and permitting process, which has long been blamed for stalling out for affordable projects. The city also plans to allow denser development near transit stops and work to add more affordable housing in suburban neighborhoods that have historically locked out low-income residents and households of color.

Oakland officials, including Mayor Libby Schaaf and Mayor-elect Sheng Thao, have said adding affordable homes is a top priority to ease the city’s chronic housing shortage and escalating homelessness crisis.

“I’m proud to see Oakland recognized as a housing leader and appreciate the partnership with the State of California to address our shared housing crisis,” Schaaf said in a statement. “In Oakland, we are committed to do our part and work closely with all our partners at the regional, state, and federal levels.”

The designation will give Oakland priority when applying to several competitive state affordable housing and transportation infrastructure programs. Additionally, it’s eligible for $15 million in grants only available to pro-housing cities and counties.

The othes to have received the designation are San Diego, Sacramento, West Sacramento, Roseville, Fontana and Citrus Heights.

For this fiscal year, the state has budgeted nearly $5 billion for various housing programs. But the state’s housing financing system is still severely oversubscribed. And the money may not be nearly enough to meet the housing needs of all Californians after decades of sluggish homebuilding.

According to researchers with Housing California and the California Housing Partnership, it would cost about $17.9 billion annually over the next decade to build the necessary housing for the state’s homeless population and low-income households.

To help make up that shortfall locally, Oakland voters last month approved a massive $850 million bond measure to fund affordable housing and infrastructure projects.

Between 2023 and 2031, the state is requiring Oakland to approve more than 26,000 new homes, more than 10,000 of which must be affordable. For the current eight-year cycle coming to a close, Oakland has only permitted less than half of its low-income housing target of around 4,100 units.

City officials are optimistic that with the state’s help, they can see a different outcome going forward.

“This designation, in partnership with the State, will allow our robust pipeline of affordable housing to move forward at the time we need the units most,”  Christina Mun, Interim Director of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department, said in a statement.