Local & Regional Policy
Creating sustainable and affordable communities means much more than constructing individual buildings. We see affordable housing as intimately linked with issues such as environmental justice, racial justice, open space preservation, pollution and traffic, and access to quality jobs. For this reason, we engage in planning and policy processes on the local and regional levels that link land use to transportation, sustainability, and economic development. Our regional policy committee, Berkeley committee, advocacy, and coalition work are some of the tools we use to build an East Bay where everyone heads home along safe, healthy corridors to vibrant neighborhoods with quality, affordable homes for everyone.
East Bay Regional Policy Committee
EBHO’s East Bay Regional Policy Committee engages in policy advocacy for equitable development throughout the region and provides support and technical assistance for EBHO’s local efforts for affordable homes in communities throughout the East Bay. We also track and recommend EBHO action on statewide housing legislation. We meet on the third Thursday of each month from 10 am – 12 pm. If you’re interested in shaping our regional housing justice work, contact Jeff Levin at jeff@ebho.org.
EBHO State Legislation Work
In 2019 we participated in the CASA and 3p’s coalition, passing an unprecedented number of bills that expand and preserve affordable housing across California. In particular, a bill we co-sponsored, AB1486- the Public Lands for Public Good, strengthens the Surplus Land Act and will play a key role in expanding the number of affordable units that will be built in the next decade. To learn more about EBHO’s legislative work, contact policy director Jeff Levin.
Housing Element Advocacy
In 2019-2020, EBHO advocated for a Regional Housing Needs Allocation that centered racial and economic equity, ensuring new affordable housing was cited near jobs and transit, and that traditionally exclusionary communities were tasked with RHNA numbers that accounted for the relatively few affordable homes in the community.
What is the Regional Housing Needs Allocation? View this RHNA explainer tile from a partner advocacy group in San Francisco, CCHO.
Our Regional Policy Committee currently has a Housing Element working group tracking and advocating for affordable homes in East Bay cities’ housing elements. Contact us at jeff@ebho.org to get involved.
Six Wins Coalition
The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) are developing a regional Sustainable Communities Strategy, a long-range plan that addresses housing growth and transit investments over the next 30 years. Mandated by Senate Bill 375, the SCS must be designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide for the Bay Area’s full housing needs.
Read more about the Sustainable Communities Strategy effort, called Plan Bay Area. Plan Bay Area was adopted in July 2013, and EBHO is working with many partners in the “Six Wins” network to ensure that implementation of the plan includes provisions for affordable housing and protections against displacement.
Great Communities Collaborative
The Great Communities Collaborative (GCC) is a group of organizations dedicated to ensuring that the San Francisco Bay Area is made up of healthy, thriving neighborhoods that are affordable to all and linked to regional opportunities by a premier transit network.
As a local partner of the GCC, EBHO works with organizations such as TransForm Greenbelt Alliance, NPH, and Urban Habitat to ensure that planning includes affordable, accessible housing. We are currently engaged in GCC-associated processes in Broadway Valdez and Lake Merritt Station Area Plan in Oakland, and in Pleasanton.
Other Resources
Housing California comment letter attachment 1