Fudge: ‘It’s Up to Us to Make a Difference’

The HUD secretary looks at building a better world.

By Donna Kimura

The nation’s top housing official urged people to recognize the housing crisis and help the less fortunate in the country.

At some point, people will have to ask “What kind of nation do we want to live in, and is housing something that we believe that everybody should have?” said Marcia Fudge, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as she delivered Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies’ annual John T. Dunlop Lecture.

Fudge cited how the median home price in San Francisco is over $1 million and $800,000 in Boulder, Colorado.

“I can go on and on, and then we wonder why people are sleeping on the street,” she said. “We wonder why people are saying they can’t get workers. I hear that all the time. Let me just say this to you: If it costs me $800,000 to live in your community and you have no public transportation, I can’t get to work. I can’t get there.”