THE CITY OF PITTSBURG HAS THE OPPORTUNITY to develop truly affordable housing by creating mixed-income development near the proposed Railroad Avenue eBART station. As the city develops a plan for the neighborhood, local community groups Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organizations (CCISCO) and La Clinica de la Raza are teaming up with the regional nonprofit Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC) to ensure that the plan provides affordable housing and meets other community needs, including the need for a youth center and health care facilities. They are working together as a part of the Great Communities Collaborative, a regional effort to promote equitable transit-oriented development.Community groups in Pittsburg have already won a policy commitment from the city to build more affordable housing. In 2004, several groups sued the city of Pittsburg to make it provide the legal amount of low-in- come housing in its General Plan. The city now has one of the strongest inclusionary housing ordinances in Contra Costa County and is working with affordable housing developers to identify sites.
Now, CCISCO, La Clinica, and TALC are organizing to make this legal victory visible through increased affordable housing units at the Railroad Avenue station. The groups are actively promoting community education and participation in the city’s planning process, particularly from historically underrepresented youth, people of color, low-income residents, and immigrants. They have city support for a local hiring policy, and are pushing for affordable housing near the new transit station.
As the city’s planning process moves forward, community groups are there every step of the way to ensure that together they build a great community truly affordable to all.
For more information on this process and other efforts of the Great Communities Collaborative, call 510.740.3150 x305 or email info@greatcommunities.org
Thank you to Chris Schildt, Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC) for her contributions to this article.
Transit Facts
Residents of the Bay Area
People living near public transit have both increased access to basic necessities and decreased transportation costs, making housing both convenient and truly affordable.