HUD chief calls Oakland ‘transit village’ a national model for housing
Marcia Fudge, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, toured Oakland’s Fruitvale Transit Village on Thursday and called it a national model for building housing on transit corridors amid the state’s escalating housing and homelessness crisis.
As Fudge walked through the transit village — so named because it brings public transit and new housing into close proximity — Chris Iglesias, the CEO of the Unity Council, an Oakland nonprofit, pointed out the Fruitvale BART Station, several women-owned restaurants in the area and a nearby project under way to build 181 affordable housing units.
After the tour, Fudge spoke at Casa Arabella, a 94-unit affordable housing building just outside the BART station, and applauded the city’s efforts to transform transit hubs with housing.
“Homelessness is a stain on the fabric of this nation,” she said. “It is a travesty.”