What are your plans for dealing with the serious lack of affordable housing in San Francisco?

By Willie Lewis Brown, Jr.

Mayor Brown Answers Your Questions

I recognized early on that as we improved the economy and the quality of life in San Francisco, we'd have to prepare for a housing squeeze. Making sure that San Franciscans can stay in their homes, and that our city retains the diverse character that makes it great, is one of the top priorities of my administration today and in the future.

In my first year in office, I introduced and passed a $100 million affordable housing bond, the first such municipal bond in the nation. Under my administration, over 5,000 new units of affordable housing have been put in the pipeline since 1996. For over 20 years, the promise of Mission Bay was unfulfilled, but in the last few years, we have gotten the Mission Bay project underway. In addition to stores and offices, there will be over 6,000 new housing units created at Mission Bay -- over 1,700 over them reserved for affordable housing. Treasure Island will provide another thousand.

Recently, we dedicated an affordable housing development made possible by the AFL-CIO housing and building trust, which I helped bring to San Francisco. And working with Fannie Mae, we have gained access to over $2 billion for affordable housing development. And I've helped protect renters from hasty "Ellis Act" evictions by guaranteeing that you'll be allowed to remain in your home for one year if your building is taken off the market using the Ellis Act.

Even someone as optimistic as myself did not predict how successful this economy would be. That's why we have to take a longer view in neighborhood planning and take concrete steps today to protect renters from skyrocketing housing prices. While we are limited in space and subject to the dynamics of supply and demand, my administration has been working hard to create new affordable housing.