San Leandro Housing Element – Supporting Housing for All

The Public Review Draft of San Leandro’s 2023-2031 Housing Element is now available for public comment until July 27, 2022. We encourage community members to provide feedback via our comment form on the Housing Element website. A presentation will also be provided at the July 18th City Council meeting.

To ensure that the Housing Element represents the values and ideas of San Leandro’s diverse population, we want to hear from as many people as possible!

This Housing Element is the City’s eight-year blueprint for meeting the housing needs of the community from 2023 to 2031. The Housing Element provides a coordinated strategy for preserving the city’s existing housing stock and advancing opportunities for new housing in a smart and sustainable way that enhances quality of life and equitable access to resources.

Over the past decade, the production of housing across the Bay Area has not matched the growth in population and the need for affordable options. San Leandro continues to attract a growing number of residents and businesses and housing needs have evolved. San Leandro’s population grew six times faster than housing unit production between 2010 and 2021. During that time, economic disparities have worsened, displacing residents of low and moderate-income. Nearly one out of five households in San Leandro spend more than 50% of their income on housing costs.

The Housing Element outlines goals and strategies to address the varied housing challenges and support the production of new housing to equitably serve the community, including:

• Identification of housing opportunity sites and a strategy for San Leandro to accommodate its share of the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)
• Policies and actions to help overcome the challenges to developing housing in San Leandro
• Strategies to address housing affordability challenges, including assessing and strengthening anti-displacement measures and tenant protections
• Strategies for equitable investment in neighborhoods and housing resources that work to overcome patterns of segregation, address housing disparities and increase access to housing education and opportunities

Moving forward, San Leandro will continue to grow differently than it has in the past with a majority of new housing expected in transit-oriented development (TOD) areas, including around the city’s two BART stations, in and around the Downtown area, and along major commercial corridors such as East 14th Street. The City has made great strides in planning for new development that will make walking, bicycling, and public transit the most convenient means of travel for most new residents in line with the City’s Climate Action goals. San Leandro must grow sustainably and equitably to provide a complete community that serves all San Leandrans.

The Housing Element was prepared through a major community outreach effort across an economically and racially diverse spectrum of people who live and work in San Leandro, housing developers and affordable housing providers, and with people who represent special needs populations such as seniors, people with disabilities, and people experiencing homelessness.

On July 18, 2022, City staff will provide a presentation on the 2023-2031 Housing Element Update to the City Council. The meeting agenda and materials will be posted online at Meeting Central in advance of the meeting. Following the public comment period, the City will submit an updated version of the draft Housing Element to the State department of Housing and Community Development for review. 

For assistance or to provide feedback, please email HousingElement@sanleandro.org.

For translation assistance, please call: 
Spanish: Lourdes Juarez at 510-577-3350
Chinese: Tom Liao at 510-577-6003