California to Invest $750 Million in 16 ’Jobs-Rich’ Areas

California’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program will make a major infusion of capital into 16, jobs-rich communities around the state, with $757 million in funding announced on August 30.

“Governor Gavin Newsom, along with the California Strategic Growth Council (SGC), today announced $757 million in funding to advance the building of affordable housing in jobs-rich, walkable neighborhoods,” according to a press release published on the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) website. “This investment will create more than 2,500 affordable homes, 150 new zero-emissions buses, over 50 miles of new bikeways, and improve miles of sidewalks in communities across the state. Once constructed, the projects will reduce 800,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to taking 178,000 gas-powered cars off California’s roads for one year.”

“Jobs-rich” doesn’t limit the funding to the state’s most populous cities (though all of the state’s largest cities made the list). Cities receiving funding for “affordable and climate-friendly” housing include Eureka, Modesto, Lemoor, Petaluma, and Richmond, among others, for example.

A complete list of funding awards is available at the press release below. News coverage of the funding announcement is available in an article by Travis Schlepp for KTLA. The Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program is a partnership between SGC, HCD, and the California Air Resources Board.