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Providing Affordable Housing & Preserving Neighborhoods

Atlanta has been fortunate over recent years as in-migration has helped revitalize dozens of neighborhoods and spurred tremendous intown growth. The challenge facing our government, civic and business leaders is encouraging that growth while also creating the policies and programs that provide affordable housing for the Atlantans who make this city’s growth possible.

From elementary school teachers to public safety officers to downtown hotel workers, Atlanta has a diverse and thriving population that is finding it harder and harder to find adequate and affordable housing. I have joined a growing group of public and private officials that recognizes affordable housing is an emerging problem and is committed to developing policies that garner the support of developers to provide housing options to better meet your needs.

The time has come to address this situation before it becomes a crisis.

With the help of public groups and private companies, new and creative housing solutions – from incentivizing mixed-income housing in new projects to considering property tax ceilings for seniors in gentrifying neighborhoods – are arriving daily and each will get a thorough review. Here’s just a few of the things I think we need to do:

• Work with the Atlanta School Board, Fulton and DeKalb counties and the state of Georgia to raise the homestead exemption for homeowners in Atlanta
• Increase our support for Community Based Development Organizations that build, renovate and provide housing for low to moderate income individuals and families
• Continue infrastructure improvements in underdeveloped neighborhoods to ensure prosperity and investment throughout the city and to relieve development pressure and escalating values in the "next hot neighborhood"
• Explore private business incentives for including affordable housing in new and substantially renovated developments
• Support efforts to prevent predatory lending practices in poor and marginalized communities

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