The White House kicked off a multiagency push on Friday to help finance real-estate developers convert more office buildings in big cities emptied by the pandemic into affordable housing, taking aim at the nation’s housing crisis.

The initiative looks to harness an existing $35 billion in low-cost loans already available through the Transportation Department to fund housing developments near transit hubs, folding it into the Biden administration’s clean energy push.

It also opens up additional funding sources and tax incentives, offering a new guidebook to 20 different federal programs that can be tapped by developers and offers technical assistance in what can end up being tricky and expensive conversions.

A third peg of the program will see the federal government draw up a public list of buildings it owns that could be made available for sale to help bolster development.

“These downtowns and central business districts that we are taking about today often already designed and orientated around public transit,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a press briefing. “Our intention is to make the most of this opportunity to add more housing near transit in ways that not only reduces the cost of housing, but also often reduces the cost of transportation.”

  • saturnus@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Democrats absolutely don’t give a shit about what their politicians are doing. Both sides are mindlessly tribal and partisan and it’s infuriating. Yes I usually vote D because Rs are generally worse but holy shit you both suck so fucking bad and are ruining the country with your idiocy.

    • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      This is not the 2000s and South Park is not the pinnacle of human intellect anymore. “Douche and a turd sandwich” stupidity only applies if you genuinely do not care about basic human rights.

      republicans are actively speedrunning to turn the country, and then the world, into Gilead. They are openly attacking human rights and are openly compromised by foreign powers. And they actively want to steal elections.

      Democrats… have messaging issues and are bad at prioritizing what we want.

      If you don’t see a difference between that: You are basically a republican and don’t want to admit it. Because you clearly don’t care about basic human rights.

      • saturnus@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I literally said I vote democrat because the GOP is worse but as you conveniently proved in my point you all have brain worms and are stupidly partisan.