Journalists are drawn to protecting issues, and with regards to housing, we all know there are a lot. Earlier this month, I printed a overview essay on three new books in regards to the housing disaster, and it is perhaps straightforward to conclude, based mostly on all of the dizzying statistics and warnings, that little progress is being made.
That will be a mistake. One in all my favourite features of working at Vox is having the house to discover modern and promising options, and this yr we coated some actually good ones in housing particularly. The sorts of concepts that, after I end reporting, after I’ve completed asking sources all my hardest questions, depart me genuinely excited. Many of those coverage concepts not solely supply new, inventive methods to extend our housing provide or get folks into current housing, but in addition assist communities sort out different issues like blight and social isolation.
Listed below are six housing coverage concepts I’ve reported on in 2024 that I really feel (cautiously) smitten by:
1. Changing deserted strip malls into housing
The Irondequoit Mall in upstate New York opened within the early Nineties and was as soon as a bustling vacation spot for the suburban city exterior Rochester. However over time, as extra retail purchasing went on-line, the brick-and-mortar shops closed, leaving a variety of empty storefronts. One nonprofit housing developer had the concept to retrofit the mall’s vacant Sears division retailer into new inexpensive housing for seniors. Her group transformed the empty constructing into 73 new rental residences, related to a brand new four-story multifamily rental constructing on the adjoining car parking zone.
Policymakers, researchers, and actual property builders are paying shut consideration to mall conversions like this one. Strip malls particularly supply some distinctive benefits for builders as a result of they normally include huge empty parking heaps that make it simpler to construct. Latest analysis estimated that changing simply the highest 10 p.c of strip mall candidates may create greater than 700,000 new houses throughout the nation. In 2022, California handed a brand new legislation to assist facilitate these sorts of conversions, and in 2023 the Biden administration launched new steering to assist leaders and builders navigate the financing course of.
Not like vacant workplace buildings, many deserted strip malls nationwide are already a long time previous and require long-backlogged repairs. They are often actual drags on their communities, and sustaining them might be costlier than simply demolishing and rebuilding. You possibly can learn our full story on this concept right here.
2. Giving tenants money as a substitute of housing vouchers
The Housing Alternative Voucher program (recognized previously as Part 8) celebrated its fiftieth anniversary this yr, and whereas greater than 2 million households at present use the subsidies to pay for housing, it’s typically a dysfunctional course of for these concerned. One federal examine discovered solely about 60 p.c of voucher-holders may even discover a landlord prepared to lease to them.
There’s quiet momentum constructing in Washington to make use of money as a substitute. Advocates suppose the cash-based strategy may not solely show more practical, but in addition show extra dignifying for renters, and even save governments cash — permitting them to focus extra on offering providers and constructing new housing. Whereas policymakers are pitching the initiative as a modest inquiry, officers concerned are keenly conscious {that a} small pilot program may result in huge, everlasting adjustments to the bipartisan $30 billion annual program. You possibly can learn that full story right here.
3. Blended-income public housing, the place native governments play the function of housing developer
I first coated this concept again in 2022: It’s a brand new mannequin for native governments to construct extra housing by taking on as builders that then personal the newly created housing belongings. The thought is to leverage comparatively small quantities of public cash to create a fund that might finance short-term building prices.
I wrote about it once more this yr as a result of the concept not simply exists on paper. One place main the way in which is Montgomery County, Maryland, which opened its first mixed-income residence complicated in 2023. With 268 models, it’s nothing just like the ramshackle public housing you may usually think about. It’s glossy and trendy, with a health heart and a courtyard pool. Different cities and states, together with Chicago, Atlanta, and Rhode Island, have been transferring ahead with their very own variations.
I take some satisfaction on this one as a result of after we printed our story in February, some of us within the Biden White Home took discover and reached out to one among our major sources for a gathering. A couple of month later, a proposal supporting this concept was included in Biden’s 2024 funds, and Kamala Harris additionally backed it on the marketing campaign path. The thought was additionally elevated this yr on the Bloomberg CityLab convention, and simply this month San Francisco printed a report affirming the mannequin’s feasibility for his or her metropolis.
4. Sure in God’s Yard
The YIGBY motion, an acronym for “Sure in God’s Yard,” actually kicked off in San Diego, the place an area Black church turned its empty 7,000-square-foot lot into 25 residences for seniors and veterans. The YIGBY motion is making the most of two completely different societal developments: Spiritual establishments throughout America are grappling with declining memberships and rising prices, with as much as 100,000 church buildings projected to shut within the subsequent few years; in the meantime, cities desperately want extra inexpensive housing.
Final yr, California handed a legislation that may make it simpler for church buildings, temples, synagogues, and mosques to construct housing, bypassing typical zoning guidelines that usually block new growth. The potential is large: California alone has 47,000 acres of faith-owned land that’s appropriate to construct on.
The thought is selecting up steam. States from Hawaii to New York are organizing for comparable laws, and there’s even a federal invoice to help these initiatives nationwide. It’s one thing of a win-win proposition: For non secular establishments, it may be a option to fulfill their mission of serving to others whereas placing empty land to good use and producing new sources of income. For cities, it’s a inventive resolution to their housing crises, and may assist many communities take care of deserted or deteriorating buildings. You possibly can learn extra about that right here.
5. Placing factory-built housing and ADUs on neighborhood land trusts
In August, I wrote about an modern thought that mixes three distinct affordability methods. The experiment started in San Bernardino, California, on a single plot of land.
First, they’re constructing houses in factories as a substitute of on-site, which cuts building prices almost in half. As a result of the houses are constructed to meet the development requirements set by the US Division of Housing and City Growth, they qualify for particular financing choices, which means they are often produced extra effectively at scale.
On high of that, the builders are including an adjunct dwelling unit (ADU) on the identical property, growing provide on the identical plot of land. And lastly, they’re utilizing a neighborhood land belief (CLT) to maintain these houses inexpensive for future consumers. A neighborhood inexpensive housing group owns the plot of land the houses are constructed on, and the CLT will successfully restrict how a lot the householders may resell it for after they’re prepared to maneuver on. The town of Palm Springs took discover and is now piloting the concept on three vacant heaps town owns. You possibly can learn the story and in regards to the pilot’s first household right here.
6. Inexpensive dorm-style residing utilizing empty downtown workplace house
One motive we haven’t seen extra office-to-residential conversions — regardless of a post-pandemic workplace emptiness charge approaching 20 p.c nationwide — is as a result of the economics of these initiatives typically aren’t financially possible. This type of grownup dorm mission, nevertheless, addresses a variety of these financial considerations.
The thought is to create smaller residences with shared kitchens, loos, and residing areas. In cities like Denver, these models may lease for between $500 to $1,000 per thirty days (far under town’s $1,771 median lease) whereas nonetheless turning a revenue. The communal setup may lower conversion prices by 25 to 35 p.c in comparison with conventional office-to-apartment conversions.
I checked out three cities — Denver, Seattle, and Minneapolis — which can be already sturdy candidates to pursue this concept because of current zoning adjustments that permit for this type of co-living. It’s a contemporary tackle the single-room occupancies (SROs) that housed thousands and thousands of city staff within the early 1900s earlier than cities banned them. Whereas some may bristle on the small models, the central areas and inexpensive rents have the potential to be significant choices for college students, younger professionals, service business staff, retirees, and concrete newcomers. You possibly can learn extra about that concept right here.
The housing affordability challenges forward are actual, however lots can change for the higher when hard-working folks concentrate. Lest you have been apprehensive, we’re not carrying rose-colored glasses over right here. We’re going to maintain watching how these concepts develop and what implementation truly seems like. We’ll convey you a progress report subsequent yr, in addition to (hopefully) some new concepts so as to add to the record. Your readership and monetary help make this type of reporting potential, so thanks.
