Mayor Announces Bloomberg Investment in Permit Reform

“Already this year, we have made great progress in modernizing our permitting system to make it easier for homes to be built and small businesses to grow,” said Mayor O’Connor. “Joining Bloomberg Philanthropies as one of the first cities in their new housing initiative will help us have access to the funding and expertise to make these changes even faster to revolutionize permitting in Pittsburgh and say yes to growth in our neighborhoods.”

As America confronts a severe shortage of homes, the Bloomberg Philanthropies effort will move three of the nation’s most effective local housing solutions from the city halls that pioneered them – Atlanta, Austin, and San Diego – to up to 30 more across the country. Pittsburgh joins the first 15 municipalities selected, which also includes: Albuquerque, NM; Alexandria, VA; Charleston, SC; Chattanooga, TN; Cleveland, OH; Columbia, SC; Durham, NC; Louisville, KY; Miami, FL; Nashville, TN; Omaha, NE; Portland, ME; Providence, RI; and San Jose, CA.

“City halls are taking local action to increase the housing supply and ease the shortage that is driving up rents and leaving the dream of home ownership out of reach,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies and three-term mayor of New York City. “As local governments address this issue, we have a great opportunity to spread the best ideas across the country. That is what this initiative is all about: helping more mayors adopt proven ways of getting more housing built—and delivering.” 

After more than a decade of underbuilding, the United States faces a housing shortfall that reaches nearly every region and income level. Construction of starter homes—those under 1,400 square feet—has collapsed from more than a third of new single-family building in the 1970s to roughly one in ten today. Some 8.1 million families now share a home with people outside their household because they cannot find another within their means. For the lowest-income renters nationally, just 35 affordable homes exist for every 100 who need one.

The pattern repeats in community after community: rent growth outrunning wages growth, commutes lengthening, and home ownership arriving later in life—if it arrives at all. Much of what drives the crisis—rising rents, interest rates, construction costs, land prices—sits beyond any one jurisdiction’s control. But the levers local government does hold are among the most consequential: what may be built, where it may be built, and how quickly it is approved. Several U.S. mayors have pulled those levers with striking results, and their examples help answer how more housing in America actually gets built. That broader effort is gaining backing from private companies, civic associations, and nonprofits. This commitment from Bloomberg Philanthropies joins them with the best of what municipal innovation offers: the means to take the headway city halls have already made much further.

Bloomberg’s housing initiative will help Pittsburgh and other cities build off of the success of three local government models: speeding and digitizing permitting from San Diego, CA; expanding accessory dwelling units from Austin, TX; and housing strike force teams from Atlanta, GA.

Pittsburgh will focus on San Diego’s model to help elevate the work the City has already done in Mayor O’Connor’s comprehensive permitting reform.

In San Diego, where the median home now costs more than $1 million and just 17% of households can afford one, city hall fast-tracked building applications reviews through digitization after Mayor Gloria signed an executive order setting a 30-day limit on approvals. Homes cleared for construction jumped 82% in one year, the most since 2005, a pace that held with nearly 8,800 permitted the year following.

Pittsburgh is set to receive up to $450,000 to $750,00 in funding from Bloomberg to pilot technology to further modernize and speed up permitting. The City will also have access to expert operational support from Accelerator for America and other field-leading specialists to implement reforms quickly.

Pittsburgh officials will also network with their peers, sharing what is succeeding on the ground and strengthening their plans with the officials furthest ahead on housing solutions nationwide.

“Bloomberg Philanthropies has spent years betting on local government as the place where real problems get solved, and this partnership puts that belief directly to work on housing,” said Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, President and CEO of Accelerator for America. “With this support, Accelerator for America gets to do what we do best: help more mayors put proven tools to work in their own cities – building the homes our communities desperately need — and creating national change from the ground up.”

The initiative, part of the organization’s longstanding Government Innovation portfolio, will be housed within its Bloomberg Cities Idea Exchange, the first effort of its kind moving what works in one municipality to where it is needed next. More than 1,000 city halls from 95 countries—serving over 745 million residents—take part in the Idea Exchange today, with nearly 200 replications complete or underway.

About Bloomberg Philanthropies: 

Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on creating lasting change in five key areas: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy that advises cities around the world. In 2025, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $4.3 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org, sign up for our newsletter, or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Facebook, and X.