Executive Summary

1. Introduction

The City of Framingham receives Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address the City’s most critical housing and community development needs. The CDBG program is vitally important to Framingham’s neighborhoods because it provides access to funds for problems that benefit people with low incomes. The CDBG program has been an asset in the City for many years, overseen and administered by the Planning and Community Development (PCD) Department. PCD is responsible for all CDBG administrative functions and for reporting to HUD. Consolidating responsibility for these programs and services has resulted in greater efficiency and coordination in managing housing and human services. The primary objective of the CDBG program is to develop viable communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment, and expanded economic opportunities. 

Every five years, HUD requires the submission of a Consolidated Plan, which covers goals and intended outcomes for the following five-year period. Annual Action Plans are also submitted for each Program Year (PY) covered by the Consolidated Plan. This Consolidated Plan covers the time period from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2030 and consists of the following sections: 

-    A comprehensive overview of the specific housing and community needs of the City based on collected and analyzed data available from HUD and other sources. The data, summarized in the Needs Assessment and Market Analysis sections of this Consolidated Plan, help determine future projects and funding.

-    The Strategic Plan, which outlines the broad goals and objectives to be achieved through CDBG funded programs and actions over the next five years (2026-2030). 

-    The PY2026 Annual Action Plan (AAP) that contains specific details, goals and outcomes for upcoming year. The PY2026 AAP, and each of the AAP’s that follow between now and 2030, are rooted in the information within the Strategic Plan. 

The Consolidated Plan is largely informed by a Citizen Participation Process (CPP) that includes separate forms of outreach to ensure that those who lack access to information, whose second language is English, and those who face other barriers can participate in the planning process. Throughout late 2024 and early 2025, the City gathered information from the community and other stakeholders as part of this process. This was conducted in addition to evaluating existing commissioned plans to help determine the most pressing LMI needs.

2. Summary of the objectives and outcomes identified in the Plan Needs Assessment Overview

The housing and community development objectives identified in this Five-Year Consolidated Plan (2026-2030) include:

• Preserve and maintain an adequate supply of safe, decent housing that is affordable and accessible to homeowners and renters with a range of incomes and household needs, particularly extremely low-, low-, and moderate-income households in South Framingham. 
• Support programs that overcome barriers to affordable housing in Framingham through development and maintenance. Framingham residents with long-term support needs must have accessible, affordable housing options to remain stably housed, such as tenant-based assistance and housing rehabilitation.
•  Improve public infrastructure that serves low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in South Framingham, improving the quality of life in the target area, stabilizing the neighborhood, and promoting vitality. This work will also improve the community appearance in South Framingham. 
• Improving the provision and diversity of various kinds of public services for residents of lower-income neighborhoods, immigrants, and others most in need.
•  Support workforce development and expand opportunities by progressing the economic conditions for small/microenterprise businesses in the Downtown Commercial Area, improving the Downtown through rehabilitation and signage efforts, and attracting/retaining more business for job opportunities, especially for South Framingham residents.

3. Evaluation of past performance

From 2020 to 2025, the City of Framingham’s Community Development Program (CDP) navigated the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by prioritizing economic development, housing assistance, public services, and public facility improvements. In 2020, the CDP disbursed nearly $1 million in CARES Act (CDBG-CV) and CDBG funds, assisting 62 small businesses and 59 low and moderate-income households with grants to cover salaries, rent, utilities, and arrearages. Public service partners supported 698 residents in non-CV programs and 320 residents in CDBG-CV programs, while Downtown Framingham Inc. provided technical assistance to approximately 200 businesses, benefiting an estimated 12,000 low/moderate-income residents.

In 2021, the Framingham shifted focus to economic development to help facilitate the recovery of low- and moderate-income business districts. The City provided microenterprise funds to support startups and expand existing businesses. Although labor shortages supply chain issues halted the housing rehabilitation program, the City amended its CARES Act approach to provide additional funds to businesses still impacted by the pandemic. Public facility investments improved neighborhood desirability and the local tax base, while code enforcement resolved 448 cases. In 2022, the city continued COVID-19 recovery efforts, supporting 125 businesses and 275 residents, moving to a digital platform for applications, and joining HUD's climate resiliency cohort. Additionally, Framingham Housing Authority received funds to remediate 13 units, creating 7 ADA-accessible units. Public services saw a substantial increase in residents served due to improved counting methods.

The CDP maintained its traditional programs in 2023, including housing rehabilitation, public facilities, public services, economic development, and code enforcement. However, staffing challenges delayed housing rehab projects, leading to a program redesign with a $15,000 cap per project. High demand prompted the revival of the microenterprise program, and the Community Development Committee shifted its funding strategy to fully support select programs. In 2024, traditional programming continued, but staffing issues limited housing rehab progress, resulting in the program’s discontinuation for FY24. The City continued to support the microenterprise program and maintained its funding strategy to focus on fully funding select initiatives.

Further detailed information on past performance is included in the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Reports (CAPER), which the CDP files with HUD at the end of each program year. These reports can be found on HUD’s website: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg/cdbg-reports-program-data-and-income-limits/. 

4. Summary of citizen participation process and consultation process

Framingham developed and conducted a thorough community participation process that is outlined in detail in the PR-15, Citizen Participation Process. As part of the process, information was gathered from residents, civic leaders, social service and housing providers, regional and local elected officials, and other pertinent stakeholders to understand what is working in the City today, what needs must be met, where the geographic priority areas are, and what partners are doing to forward the goals of the CDBG program. In order to ensure maximum participation, the Consolidated Planning process included: four days of focus groups during which the plan’s consultant met with 15 agencies/individuals about various CDBG activities, a follow-up questionnaire, and a public hearing on community needs and priorities. Notices of the plan’s outreach efforts were published in the MetroWest Daily News and posted on the City’s website. 

The CPP process was supplemented by a large inventory of other commissioned studies undertaken by the Planning and Community Development Department over the course of several years including but not limited to: the Housing Plan 2007 (updated 2014), the Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area Plan (2012), the Downtown Framingham Transit Oriented Development Action Plan (2015), the Southeast Framingham Brownfield Plan (2016), the Master Land Use Plan (2020), the Open Space Plan and Recreation Plan (2020), the Downtown Framingham Rapid Recovery Plan (2021), the Economic Development Strategic Plan Phase I (2019) and II (2021), the Hazard Mitigation Plan (2023), the FY2024 to FY2028 Capital Improvement Plan and FY25 Budget, the. Each plan involved its own public engagement process, significantly contributing to the findings of the Needs Assessment and Market Analysis. Surveys from outreach conducted by the West Metro HOME Consortium and from a prior Needs Assessment completed by the City were also used to provide valuable information for this process.

5. Summary of public comments

A summary of public comments can be found in PR-15, Table 4 of the Citizen Participation Plan.

6. Summary of comments or views not accepted and the reasons for not accepting them

All comments were accepted.

7.  Summary

The comments gathered during the CPP process highlight a need for continued housing and public service support from the CDBG program, as well as a diversity of options to continue to service various household types, provide job opportunities, and create a stronger quality of life. An inclusive and widescale CPP identified the community’s priority needs, effective investment strategies to meet those needs, and formulated a goal-oriented strategic response to do so. The strategic response will be instrumental in improving the lives of Framingham’s low and moderate-income residents over the next five years in the priority areas of affordable housing, public facilities and infrastructure, public services and economic development. Planning, coordinated implementation, and financial partnerships can achieve the goals of this Consolidated Plan, and the City of Framingham is confident that its past performance can be maintained as it continues exploring innovative opportunities through CDBG programming.

The City of Framingham has identified its priority housing and community development needs and created a strategic response to addressing them. Many of these strategies have the potential for improving the quality of life for the City’s low- and moderate-income residents. With careful planning, coordinated implementation, and a significant commitment of financial resources, the goals described in this Consolidated Plan will be achieved, providing tremendous opportunities for low- and moderate-income individuals and families throughout Framingham. The City remains confident that its consistently high level of performance enjoyed in the past will be maintained as it explores innovative ways to create the best possible community and neighborhoods for its low- and moderate-income residents.