Our Values

We envision everyone having a safe, secure place to call home, prioritizing the needs of people who face the biggest barriers to obtaining and maintaining that kind of home, and the health, stability, and economic security that it provides. As such, our work is guided by the following key values:

1. Massive public investment in transit and housing infrastructure must be accompanied by requirements that guarantee that these investments foster equity and rectify discriminatory practices. 
   
   
2. Funding for land acquisition and infrastructure development must include clearly articulated expectations related to:
   
   
   • Achieving a full spectrum of housing types with a specific focus on housing that is attainable for Extremely Low Income and Very Low Income households.  We must fully leverage the market development opportunities created by station area development to create much more housing that is attainable for lower income households.
     
     
   • Ensuring that the economic benefits accrue to the people who have been marginalized and harmed. We value setting goals and expectations specifically for prioritizing women and minority owned businesses and local hire, partnerships with Black Indigenous People of Color owned planning, design and development companies, and increasing Black Indigenous People of Color ownership and control of housing and other wealth-building assets
     
     
   • Mitigating displacement impacts by involving anchor institutions and current community members early and frequently throughout the planning and development process. We are committed to helping people, especially Black Indigenous People of Color who are disproportionately harmed by gentrification and resultant displacement, stay rooted in their communities. 
     
     
   • Crafting land use and zoning policy to ensure that a percentage of the development will be reserved for affordable homeownership and not only rentals.  This will require creative strategies such as limited equity cooperative housing, land trusts and self-help tools to create a range of missing middle housing types affordable to income-limited households. 
     
     
3. Housing is but one ingredient in the development of whole communities which also requires a mix of uses, complete streets, place-making and public amenities to create neighborhoods in which all households and individuals can thrive.