Steady job growth and excellent schools are among the features that have made metropolitan Washington a desirable place to live, spurring high home values and encouraging the creation of expensive new developments. This has put enormous pressure on local governments striving to shape communities where all citizens of all ages can afford to live.
COG shares housing data, best practices, and tools to help encourage the production and preservation of housing affordable to low and moderate-income residents who may not be well-served by the existing housing market. Through strategic partnerships, COG and its members build greater awareness of the region's housing affordability needs. In late 2018, COG launched its Regional Housing Initiative to determine what it would take to increase housing beyond what is currently forecast to provide enough housing for the region’s growing workforce. In 2019, officials adopted three regional housing targets to address this challenge.
It is not enough to just increase the amount of housing our region produces, however. Equally important is ensuring that growth is equitable and results in integrated neighborhoods in metropolitan Washington. COG works to support local governments in meeting their obligation to affirmatively further fair housing choice so that as the region grows, all residents can choose to live in healthy, affordable homes with access to transit, jobs, and quality educational opportunities.
COG also supports the most severe housing needs of the region's residents—individuals and families experiencing homelessness. COG, area governments, and homeless services providers seek regional solutions to ensure that the experience of homelessness is brief, rare, and one time only.
News & Multimedia
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News
June 9, 2004
A new report approved by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Board of Directors reveals a slight increase in the number of area residents...
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News
May 14, 2004
More than half of the region’s workforce cannot afford to pay the average rental price for apartments or homes in metropolitan Washington , according to a...
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News
November 5, 2003
Earlier this fall, the Washington Area Housing Trust Fund approved its first loan. The Island Walk Cooperative, a 102-unit limited equity Section 8 cooperative...
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News
May 14, 2003
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) third annual count of the region’s homeless population on a single day indicated an increase in...