In a new article for the International City/County Management Association’s Public Management Magazine, Sarah Sieloff examines how public ports are partnering with their communities to provide local housing solutions.
“Ports and housing may seem like odd bedfellows, but running a healthy port requires a secure workforce, which in turn requires healthy and securely housed people,” Sarah writes in “All hands on deck: Ports offer models for housing production partnerships” (published online Dec. 1). Therefore, “Ports have a compelling interest in helping the communities they call home broaden entrée to accessible, high-quality housing, which is why some are showing up as partners to meet housing demand and promote housing stability.”
An expert in infrastructure-funding opportunities, Sarah probes examples from around the country to illustrate how these partnerships have taken shape. For example, some ports directly fund affordable housing agencies, while others support operations that provide the raw materials for housing.
“In Cincinnati, the port is a market maker,” Sarah writes. “In Savannah, the Georgia Ports Authority is an investor. In Portland[, Oregon], the port is catalyzing a new traded-sector economic cluster. And in Bellingham[, Washington], the port is expanding housing and revitalizing its waterfront through innovative and focused planning.”
Learn more in Sarah’s article.
