Equitable Development in the Mission District

In an effort to reduce the impacts of gentrification, a local nonprofit in San Francisco's Mission District has begun to purchase properties with the goal of providing affordable housing to existing residents of the neighborhood reports Oscar Perry Abello. 

The Mission Economic Development Agency was created in the 1970s, but only in recent years has it begun to purchase, preserve, and develop properties with the intention of preventing displacement of people and businesses. It uses a range of funding sources and strategies to pursue its goals.

The agency has already achieved its 2020 goal of developing 1,000 affordable housing units and 100,000 square feet of commercial space, and is doubling its goals as a result, according to Abello.