Good Government Awards 2018: The Dahlia Housing Portal Transformed How San Franciscans Find Affordable Housing

The 2018 Good Government Awards, held on March 21, recognized outstanding job performance of those serving the City and County of San Francisco.

Before the DAHLIA Housing Portal, there was no centralized listing for affordable housing in the city. Each property owner or developer maintained its listings, paper-based application process and manually conducted lotteries, sowing confusion and distrust among prospective applicants.

Now, thanks to this interdepartmental team of leaders — including Maria Benjamin, Barry Roeder, Michael Solomon and Ashley Meyers of the San Francisco Office of Housing and Community Development and City Administrators Office / Digital Services — the city has a new one-stop online location for listings and applications for all affordable rental opportunities funded or overseen by the city.

DAHLIA not only benefits those looking for housing; it also benefits the city through enhanced data collection, reduced processing time and much-improved workflows. The DAHLIA team is also recognized for its user-centered design, modern agile software development and collaborative process that engages stakeholders.

 

2018 Good Government Awards: DAHLIA Housing Team from SPUR on Vimeo.

 

2018 winners also include:

Sonali Bose Oversees Billions to Help SFMTA Innovate

Kelly Cornell Helped Create a Long-Term Plan for SF's Urban Forests

Jesus Mora Improves SF's Emergency Response Systems

The Encampment Resolution Team Pioneered SF's Navigation Centers