More houses, less blight.

That’s the essence of a plan by Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols, who held a news conference today to describe his goal to increase the number of affordable housing units in Tulsa by 6,000 and reduce the number of unsafe properties by 60-percent, all by 2028.

“It’s a lofty goal, but it’s something that also doesn’t happen on accident and, I would argue, something that is fully within our control to make happen,” Nichols said.

Nichols signed an executive order that will create a housing acceleration team to speed up building permits, inspections, and zoning changes.

He says they’ll also look at ways to encourage and reward developers, such as reducing fees, if they renovate vacant and blighted properties.

Mayor Nichols says they’ll also try to find funding mechanisms to combine private dollars with funding earmarked in the latest Improve Our Tulsa plan to address the homeless problem.

And the Mayor, who says accountability is important to him, says they’ll create a special data tracker on the city’s website, where citizens can see firsthand the progress being made in improving the permitting process.