Julian Castro’s national tour stopped by Atlanta Friday morning.
Castro, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, met with government, business and civic leaders at the Atlanta Regional Commission, as part of a round-table discussion of best practices to support economic mobility; expand housing affordability; and increase access to good neighborhoods, jobs and education.
The event was hosted by the ARC and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who said his administration is creating a cabinet-level position to advise on social and economic equality — someone “who will always be there reminding us about what we can do to help hard-working people.”
Atlanta is one of five cities Castro is visiting to create a “Prosperity Playbook” of best practices that he hopes will spread, and live beyond the last few months of the Obama administration. Other cities on the tour were Kansas City, Minneapolis, Denver and San Francisco.
Castro said the Atlanta region is an economic powerhouse, but that even cities and counties with strong economies suffer from a lack of affordable housing. He cited a 2015 study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition that found people working full-time, minimum-wage jobs could not afford market-rate one-bedroom apartments anywhere in the country.
“We see this happening, not just in big cities but in smaller towns and places most people don’t think of as being unaffordable,” Castro said. “The idea behind the Prosperity Playbook is: how can we create greater housing opportunities throughout the region and make sure we do our best to lift up those vulnerable neighborhoods?”
Reed said it’s imporant for agencies across government to all have a stake in equality and affordable housing. He also said government can help by requiring inclusion of affordable housing units whenever tax dollars subsidize developments.
Affordable housing has been a priority of Reed's administration, and earlier this year the Invest Atlanta board was presented with an affordable housing strategy that could be inserted into the city's zoning code this summer.
“When we think about equity, we think about housing, we think about infrastructure, we think about connectivity,” Reed said. “In the past, all of those different functions moved independently. All of those units … (have to) work in a cooperative fashion because resources are shrinking, and that means we have to be more thoughtful to get a bang for our buck.”
Castro agreed the issues are inter-related, and said quality affordable housing can help all facets of life for people living in the margins. He said that’s why his agency has focused heavily on voucher programs — rather than Section 8 housing — which allow people choose the neighborhoods in which they live.
“Where a person lives often influences their opportunities in life: what kind of job they’re able to get, the kinds of quality-of-life amenities they have access to,” Castro said. “So there is an intimate link between housing and everything else. The idea behind making sure that people of modest means have good affordable housing opportunities throughout a region is ensuring they can be close to economic centers so they can have access to good jobs.”
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