Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg discussed the importance of affordable housing locally and nationally during a conversation with Long Beach residents and community leaders on Thursday.
During his tenure as transportation secretary from 2021 to 2025, Buttigieg worked to launch more than 60,000 infrastructure projects across the country, improve transportation safety and technology, expand airline passenger protections and resolve pandemic-related supply chain disruptions. He visited the Port of Long Beach in 2024 when Pier B had its groundbreaking to launch a massive on-dock rail facility.
Cheryl Neal speaks with Mayor Rex Richardson and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at Heritage Gardens in Long Beach on Thursday, February 12, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From right, Mayor Rex Richardson and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speak with residents of Heritage Gardens in Long Beach on Thursday, February 12, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From right, Mayor Rex Richardson and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speak with residents of Heritage Gardens in Long Beach on Thursday, February 12, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From right, Mayor Rex Richardson and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speak with residents of Heritage Gardens in Long Beach on Thursday, February 12, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Laura Moreno speaks with Mayor Rex Richardson and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at Heritage Gardens in Long Beach on Thursday, February 12, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From right, Mayor Rex Richardson and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speak with residents of Heritage Gardens in Long Beach on Thursday, February 12, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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Cheryl Neal speaks with Mayor Rex Richardson and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at Heritage Gardens in Long Beach on Thursday, February 12, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Buttigieg returned to Long Beach on Thursday, but this time to have a conversation about affordable housing with Richardson and local residents. He shared that he is traveling the country to get to know people who are solving issues in their communities, such as addressing affordable housing. Buttigieg said he was excited to hear residents’ stories and how public-private partnerships are able to help develop affordable housing in the city.
The meeting took place at Heritage Gardens, an apartment community for low-income veterans and older adults who have been homeless, which opened in 2024.
“Long Beach is a very diverse community with a lot of rich history, and particularly in this area, Central Long Beach,” Richardson said during the meeting. “But communities like ours have lacked investment for a long time, and we’re starting to see a renaissance driven by housing. What’s happening with housing is the more housing you build, the more stable your community becomes, more opportunities are created.”
Four residents who live at Heritage Gardens met with the mayor and Buttigieg to share their stories about how they secured housing through the city’s resources and have made their apartment complex along Pacific Coast Highway a home.
One of the residents was Cheryl Neal, who has been living at Heritage Gardens for two years. She has lived in Long Beach since childhood. But, Neal said, she became homeless and had to rely on friends and family for a place to stay. Then she visited Long Beach’s Multi-Service Center, Neal said, and was placed into housing.
Another resident who received help from the Multi-Service Center to get housing was Laurence Owens. He is a veteran, but was faced with challenges that led him to become homeless on the streets of Long Beach for more than a year, he said. Staff at the Multi-Service Center provided him with help that led him to fill out paperwork with Veterans Affairs and look for housing.
Owens cried when he received the keys to his apartment, the veteran said.
“That’s why I’m here and this is my family now,” he said. “This is my home.”
The four residents expressed their gratitude for the staff and resources that they receive from the team at Heritage Gardens. They also shared the different community events that have brought many residents together.
Some of those resources are provided by the Do Good Daniels Family Foundation, a local nonprofit that helps local families and youth. Co-founders Christi and Robert Daniels told Buttigieg and Richardson about the work they do to also create intergenerational support for youth and older adults at the apartments.
Mercy Housing, which helped build and run the apartment complex, also had representatives on hand — including President and CEO Ismael Guerrero and Vice President of real estate Ed Holder — who shared how important it was to work with the city to make the project possible, and also how staff are dedicated to residents to create a sense of community and belonging.
“Being here to talk to people who have had a positive experience because of the work that’s happened here is really inspiring for me,” Buttigieg said in an interview. “These things don’t just happen on their own; they happen when a community, through leadership like the mayor’s leadership, is ready to tear down those barriers that stand between people and a life of their choosing. That stands between housing that is needed and what is actually there, and also providing those services.”
It’s important not only to create pathways to home ownership, Buttigieg said, but also to have a housing strategy that keeps rent affordable for tenants — making it both more accessible and affordable for people to live their lives.
Hearing the positive stories of residents like Owens and Neal, Richardson said, is why the city works on addressing affordable housing in the city.
“To hear these stories, of these individuals from our community who were living on our streets and now living in housing with dignity and pride,” he said, “is why we do what we do — and we’re not going to give up.”