For the first time in over 20 years, the region is coming together to collaborate on fair housing, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) is leading that effort.

COG, its local government members, together with their public housing authority partners, are working together on a Regional Housing Equity Plan, also known as the regional Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (or regional AI for short).

This will ensure that the region is better aligned in its efforts to expand housing choices so that all people can choose to live in communities with access to quality jobs, schools, housing, and transportation options.

COG elected officials discuss the importance of coordinating on fair housing. From left: Robert C. White, Jr., District of Columbia Councilmember; Christian Dorsey, Arlington County Boardmember; Penny Gross, Fairfax County Supervisor; Nancy Navarro, Montgomery County Councilmember; Phyllis Randall, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair; Justin Wilson, City of Alexandria Mayor; Andrea Bailey, Prince William County Supervisor

According to recent news reporting, HUD is expected to announce changes to the way communities track and report data on fair housing. COG and its members are closely coordinating with federal partners and hopeful that our fair housing planning work underway can serve as a model for other metropolitan areas in the future.

Here are five things to know about this process:

1) Housing discrimination still exists, and we have a responsibility to stop it.

Although the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968 and progress has been made ensuring more people have access to housing opportunities, we have a lot of work to do to prevent discrimination and undo historic patterns of segregation.

We know that where you live continues to have a significant impact on your life outcomes in metropolitan Washington. For example, a COG study with the Virginia Commonwealth University, Uneven Opportunities, found that life expectancy across the region can vary by as much as 27 years and health can differ drastically within a single county, from neighborhood to neighborhood.

2) The region’s cities, counties, and housing authorities recognized this work would be better done together.

The housing market in our region does not end or begin at jurisdictional lines. Many of the region’s cities, counties, and housing authorities are required to do fair housing plans as they are recipients of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding. Working together on one plan, rather than separately, will ensure we have a more complete picture of the fair housing landscape and can set shared goals and create concrete strategies for making it better.

Participating jurisdictions include: City of Alexandria, Arlington County, District of Columbia, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Montgomery County, and Prince William County.

3) This regional planning process includes several components, and the final plan will be submitted in the spring of 2022 to the federal government. 

We’ll assess past fair housing goals and actions to achieve them. We’ll perform an analysis of data and issues that impact fair housing—from determining where communities are still segregated by race, how difficult it is for persons with disabilities to find housing, how well local governments enforce fair housing laws, and much more. Then, we’ll establish measurable fair housing goals and priorities as well as actions to address those inequities.

4) Community engagement is a critical part of this process.

We’d like the community to get involved by participating in fair housing events in your community and through various public comment opportunities. A Community Advisory Committee of more than a dozen civic and nonprofit partner organizations is helping us with this engagement effort. In addition to briefings in each participating jurisdiction, we are planning three regional workshops this summer and fall. 

5) The region thrives when we all thrive.

When people lack access to housing opportunities, we undermine our region’s overall success. While we cannot undo the past, working together now to address injustices, past and present, can unlock our region’s full potential. When we collaborate to create inclusive communities, we help ensure that people from all walks of life have healthy, safe, and affordable places to live and can enjoy the benefits of our growing, prosperous region. 

Please visit mwcog.org/fairhousing for updates and community engagement opportunities on this very important initiative and ways to get involved.

Hilary Chapman is COG's Housing Program Manager