LeadershipNot yet confirmed elsewhere1 publisher2 min readPublished
Bloomberg Philanthropies will pay up to 30 cities to copy three housing fixes that worked elsewhere
Bloomberg Philanthropies will fund up to 30 cities with $450,000 to $750,000 each to copy housing fixes from San Diego, Austin and Atlanta. Vox describes the bet as one on capacity: cities have workable ideas and lack the know-how to carry them out.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
Key figures for San Diego: fully affordable projects cleared review in nine days on average within a year of the January 2023 order, which required review in 30 business days or less. Citywide, 9,691 homes were approved in 2023, an 82 percent jump from the year before.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average review, fully affordable projects | 9 days | 6 | |
| Required review time, max | 30 business days | 4 | |
| Homes approved citywide in San Diego, 2023 | 9,691 homes | an 82 percent jump from the year before | 7 |
What happened
- Each city also gets two years of help from Accelerator for America and the digital consultancy Public Digital, both paid for by Bloomberg.
- Bloomberg has already picked the first 15 cities, among them Albuquerque, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Durham, Louisville, Miami, Nashville, Pittsburgh and San Jose.
- Within a year of a January 2023 executive order, San Diego's fully affordable projects were clearing review in nine days on average.
Why it matters
- contradiction The pitch says execution is the gap, yet Anderson said the cities were chosen because their mayors had already taken hard zoning votes. In our view, a good result here will say little about a city where that vote is still ahead.
- cost Staff hired with grant money become a payroll line the city must fund itself or drop when the two years end. Vox reports it is not clear which will happen.
- decision A mayor weighing the offer is also positioning for federal money: the ROAD to Housing Act, law since July, creates competitive grants for permitting reform, preapproved plans and open public land, and Vox says cities that can show prior work will be better placed.
San Diego is the strongest case for the capacity thesis, because its fix was largely administrative. The city streamlined permitting work that had been spread across multiple departments and filled positions it had budgeted but left vacant [5]. The order set a ceiling of 30 business days for fully affordable projects [4]. Citywide, 2023 was the city's biggest year for housing permits since at least 2005, with 9,691 homes approved, an 82 percent jump [7]. That implies roughly 5,300 approvals the year before [17].
The program offers three fixes: faster permitting, accessory dwelling units, or a housing strike team [1]. They ask for different things. Austin's came after years of local zoning reform. The city then legalized up to three homes on most single-family lots in late 2023 and cut the minimum lot size from 5,750 square feet to 1,800 in 2024 [8]. Atlanta changed no laws. Mayor Andre Dickens convened the heads of every public agency that affects housing, on a regular basis, and called the group a "housing strike force"; it has helped move forward a larger push to build or preserve 20,000 affordable homes by 2030 [9]. Dickens told Vox that all housing deals now route through the mayor's office, and "I just start pushing buttons to push them out the door." [14]
Bloomberg's argument is that the ideas already exist. "You don't need everyone to be innovating everything all the time when there are good ideas in the world that are working," said James Anderson, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies' government innovation program. "They need help adapting those ideas to local contexts." [11]
The money is small next to what it is meant to move. The grants are geared toward hiring city staff, buying new software and developing expertise, and Vox notes that by housing construction standards the money does not go far [10]. If all 30 cities are funded within the stated range, the direct grants total between $13.5 million and $22.5 million [16].
What to watch
- Which cities fill the remaining 15 slots, and whether any lack the prior zoning votes that Anderson said marked the first group.
- Review times or permit counts from the first cohort at about one year, the point at which San Diego reported nine days.
- How federal grants under the ROAD to Housing Act are awarded, and whether cohort cities win them.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption25
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives45
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Bloomberg Philanthropies is announcing on Tuesday that it will fund up to 30 cities to adopt one of three housing ideas: faster permitting, accessory dwelling units, or a housing strike team.
- [2]
Each city will get between $450,000 and $750,000 directly and two years of help from Accelerator for America and the digital consultancy Public Digital, which Bloomberg also funds.
- [3]
The philanthropy has already selected the first 15 cities, including Albuquerque, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Durham, Louisville, Miami, Nashville, Pittsburgh and San Jose.
- [4]
In January 2023, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria signed an executive order requiring every fully affordable project to be reviewed in 30 business days or less.
- [5]
To meet the goal, San Diego streamlined permitting work that had been spread across multiple departments and filled positions it had budgeted for but left vacant.
- [6]
Within a year of the January 2023 order, fully affordable projects in San Diego were clearing review in nine days on average.
- [7]
Citywide, 2023 was San Diego's biggest year for housing permits since at least 2005, with 9,691 homes approved, an 82 percent jump from the year before.
- [8]
After years of local zoning reform, Austin legalized up to three homes on most single-family lots in late 2023, then cut the minimum lot size from 5,750 square feet to 1,800 in 2024.
- [9]
Atlanta adopted a strategy that did not require changing any laws: Mayor Andre Dickens convened the heads of every public agency that affects housing on a regular basis, called a 'housing strike force', which has helped advance the city's effort to build or preserve 20,000 affordable homes by 2030.
- [10]
The grants are geared toward hiring city staff, buying new software and helping cities quickly develop expertise; by housing construction standards, the money does not go very far.
- [11]
"You don't need everyone to be innovating everything all the time when there are good ideas in the world that are working," said James Anderson, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies' government innovation program. "They need help adapting those ideas to local contexts."
- [12]
According to Anderson, the cities were chosen because their mayors had already taken hard political votes on zoning and wanted help now to do more.
- [13]
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law in July and creates competitive grants for cities that modernize their permitting, for preapproved housing plans, and that open up public land; these are the reforms Bloomberg is funding, and cities that can show they have already done work around them will be better positioned to tap the new federal dollars.
- [14]
Every housing deal now comes to the mayor's office, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens told Vox, and "I just start pushing buttons to push them out the door."
- [15]
Vox describes the bet as one that cities lack the know-how to execute good ideas, not the ideas themselves.
- [16]
Direct grants to 30 cities at $450,000 to $750,000 each total $13.5 million to $22.5 million.
- [17]
An 82 percent rise to 9,691 approved homes implies roughly 5,300 approvals in the prior year.
- [18]
It is not clear what will happen to city capacity when the foundation funding runs out.
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- vox.comHow housing victories in San Diego, Austin, and Atlanta could spread nationwide
1 article · October 13, 2026
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