Preservation is one of the best ways to increase the supply of affordable transit-oriented housing in a super high-price market like metro Washington. Purchasing housing in key areas prior to prices skyrocketing allows affordable housing to remain as such but this requires a proactive approach. This was the focus of a panel discussion at the recent kickoff meeting of the Region Forward Coalition and a subsequent post here on The Yardstick.

Preservation of affordable housing was the primary topic of NBC 4’s Viewpoint program this past Sunday July 10 (video is below). Three experts discussed the lack of affordable housing in the DC area and the impact that growth and new development has had on housing – namely increasing prices of existing housing in areas that were previously affordable.

Alicia Lewis a Regional Housing Planner at MWCOG Michael Pitchford President of the Community Preservation Development Corporation and Monica Warren-Jones Director of Relationship Management at Enterprise Community Partners talked about the need for regional coordination to address affordable housing as well as the GreenPATH fund that was referenced in our earlier blog post. Enterprise MWCOG and other partners are trying to expand GreenPATH regionally through the creation of a $54 million fund to preserve affordable transit-oriented housing. Watch the discussion: