Key facts
- Initiative focuses on digitized permitting, accessory dwelling units, and housing strike teams.
- San Diego saw an 82% rise in homes cleared for construction in one year after speeding up permit reviews.
- Austin legalized up to three homes on most single-family lots, leading to approximately 120,000 units built since 2015.
- Atlanta has moved over 2,000 affordable units back into the pipeline and is over halfway to its 20,000-unit housing goal.
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced last week a new initiative to scale up successful local housing reforms across the United States. The program will support up to 30 additional municipalities in adopting three key models: digitized and accelerated permitting from San Diego, expansion of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) from Austin, and housing strike teams from Atlanta. Selected cities will receive between $450,000 and $750,000 each, along with operational support from partners like Accelerator for America and Public Digital. The initiative aims to help cities increase housing supply, ease shortages driving up rents, and make homeownership more accessible. Fifteen cities have already been named as initial recipients of this support.