DC Offers Cash To Help Workers Live Close By

• May 6, 2013
• 6 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

In an attempt to encourage people to live closer to their offices, DC’s Office of Planning (OP) plans to offer grants to defer the cost of housing for private employees in DC, reported the Washington Business Journal.

There is a catch, however: the 60 grants will be doled out through employers who must match the offers with grants or loans amounting to up to $8,000 per employee. The OP will be sending $200,000 to as many as three employers and will begin collecting applications from interested companies in the coming weeks.

This is the second time the Office of Planning has been encouraging folks to live near their offices; the so-called Live Near Your Work program first launched in 2011. Apparently, the OP was happy with the results.

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This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/want_to_shorten_your_employees_commute_dc_offers_cash_to_help_dc_workers_li/7025

6 Comments

1. david said at 8:44 pm on Monday May 6, 2013:
   Hmmm, really? I've been trying to work back in DC (DC native) for a awhile now. Now working in Falls Church after company moved from Rosslyn, VA which is much closer to downtown DC and right over Key Bridge.

1. kob said at 2:52 am on Tuesday May 7, 2013:
   the intentions may be fine, but this is a total waste of money. if the District has money to burn, i think of far, far better uses than to subsidize moving costs of someone who wants to live in-town. Do they still have the tax-break for first time home buyers?

1. chris said at 3:30 pm on Tuesday May 7, 2013:
   Yeah, this seems like a pointless waste of money. A far better exercise for the Office of Planning would be to encourage greater housing development in the downtown. DC could transform downtown from a largely 9-5 office district to a vibrant mixed-urban zone worthy of Chicago or San Francisco.

1. saladman8283 said at 3:36 pm on Tuesday May 7, 2013:
   Agree that this is a total waste of money. In fact it will probably have the unintended consequence of driving up rents.

1. adriana said at 5:20 pm on Tuesday May 7, 2013:
   Ugh. I hate this town sometimes. The priorities are messed up. It just loves to give money away (to both decent hardworking people and to thugs), but if you try to earn a living (say AirBnB), you're villified as a lawbreaker. Messed up.

1. DC place said at 2:18 am on Thursday May 16, 2013:
   Is this what 'government' is for?