Axios Live: Creating more affordable housing a key goal for Atlanta leaders

ATLANTA — Improving access to cost-accessible homes is top of mind in metropolitan Georgia, where policymakers met this week at an Axios Live event.

The big picture: As the federal government appears to be moving away from funding permanent housing, cities across the U.S. — including Atlanta — face the mounting challenge of increased homelessness.

• Axios' Kristal Dixon and Mike Szvetitz spoke with Partners for HOME CEO Cathryn Vassell, city of Atlanta chief of staff Courtney D. English and Metro Atlanta Chamber president and CEO Katie Kirkpatrick. The event was sponsored by JPMorganChase.

What they're saying: The Department of Housing and Urban Development last week "dismantled and turned on its head the way we have traditionally funded supportive housing for people who are experiencing homelessness," Vassell said.

By the numbers: Officials in Mayor Andre Dickens' administration have "currently delivered … or are in the process of delivering … 12,000 units in less than four years," English said. Their aim is to create 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030.

• For every two jobs created in a community, one home is needed, Kirkpatrick said. A city's economic potential and housing are directly tied to one another.
• Metro Atlanta lost more than 230,000 low- to moderately priced housing units between 2018 and 2023, Axios' Kristal Dixon reported this year.

The bottom line: Availability of affordable housing is ultimately the most important variable in determining a population's risk of homelessness, Vassell said.

Content from the sponsored segment:

In a View From The Top conversation, Tim Berry, global head of corporate responsibility and chairman of JPMorganChase's mid-Atlantic region, said businesses, lenders and leaders need to embed themselves in a community and get to know the key players to effectively support each other.

"Having people that are experts on how you use [low-income housing credits], new market tax credits, how you think about innovative ways to structure affordable housing [and] preservation of affordable housing," Berry said, is a key part of contributing resources effectively.