SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Just off the Embarcadero, along Broadway at Davis Street in San Francisco, shovels in the ground mean construction is underway on new affordable housing developments for seniors and families.
What makes this project unique is that even people without incomes are welcomed.
“There will be 37 apartments reserved for people who are literally on our street right now, living on our street,” Kate Hartley, with SF Housing, said.
Those people are among the city’s growing homeless population, which, in May, we learned has increased 17-percent since 2017.
But we now know that’s a narrow look at how the homeless are now being reported by the city to the federal government.
A broader look at the problem, in a report released by the City Department of Homelessness and Supportive Services shows that the two year increase is closer to 30-percent, when you count people in hospitals, jails, rehab facilities and other situations.
Mayor London Breed says affordable housing projects like Broadway and Davis are a prime example of why she wants the Board of Supervisors to put a $600-million bond measure on the ballot to fund up to 2800 affordable housing units in the next four years.
“People are counting on us to make good decisions and to not allow bureaucracy to get in the way of much needed affordable housing,” Mayor Breed said.
“It does make a difference. It especially makes a difference for the people who will be coming in off the street and have new homes that they can call their own,” Hartley said
If all goes as planned, future tenants of the Broadway and Davis project could start moving in as early as midway through the year 2021.