Dwellings

Episode 29: A Conversation With The Housing Director

Episode Summary

This year, the Housing Department welcomed its new director, Erik Louis Soliván. With over 17 years of experience in the housing sector, Erik is an expert at collaborating with diverse public, private, and community partners to preserve and produce housing for families at all income levels. Today, Erik talks about his vision for San José and strategies that align with the Housing Department’s missions and goals of affordable housing portfolio management, affordable housing production and preservation, homelessness interventions and solutions, neighborhood capital investment and public services, and rent stabilization and tenant protection. Find out how a department servicing the community is focused on improving the quality of life for its residents.

Episode Notes

• Please visit our Housing Department Website to learn more about the work we do for our community.
• Sign up for The Housing Department Newsletter
• For all the updates, follow us on Social Media:
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• Housing Element - State law requires that every City and county in California adopt a Housing Element as part of its General Plan. The purpose of the Housing Element is to ensure that local governments adequately plan to meet the housing needs of all people within the community - regardless of their income.
• Soft Story Retrofit Program  - Modern building codes developed by the State of California and enforced locally by the City of San José include standards for earthquakes that have resulted in buildings that are resilient to most earthquakes. However, buildings constructed before these earthquake standards went into effect may not be as resilient unless they have been retrofitted.