Planning department unveils citywide community stabilization strategy to address displacement

Planning department staff presented the city’s community stabilization and anti-displacement strategy as a new, citywide effort to identify neighborhoods at risk, compile existing programs and propose recommendations to mitigate displacement.

Andrea (Andy) Nelson, head of the citywide Community Opportunity and Equity team, said the strategy builds on MAP 2020, Mission and Tenderloin initiatives and work with UC Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project to map census-tract changes and stages of displacement. Staff described three components: (1) assembling and mapping displacement and housing-data indicators (evictions, buyouts, SRO conversions), (2) cataloguing existing city programs and costs, and (3) developing policy and program recommendations plus a public toolkit for city agencies and community stakeholders.

Nelson and staff said they are coordinating with MOHCD, OEWD, the Rent Board, Public Health, DBI and community groups, that community outreach will expand in winter 2018 and that a draft strategy for public review is anticipated in early 2019 with a final in spring 2019. Commenters from neighborhood coalitions and advocacy groups broadly supported the effort and asked for robust SRO tracking, enforcement, funding analysis and data layers showing ownership, violations and displacement pressures to guide interventions.

Commissioners thanked staff and urged bold recommendations, strong enforcement, and integrating transportation and code-enforcement data. Staff said they will continue to refine the toolkit and engage stakeholders in community meetings and an online survey.