How a staffing crisis launched Eagle County School District into the affordable housing business

The Housing Helps program in the popular tourist town of Breckenridge, Colorado, provides homeowners, buyers, and businesses providing housing for their employees with funding for repairs, assessments, and down payments. The program aims to support home preservation and supply more affordable housing for locals.

Cambridge’s new zoning reform lessens housing restrictions by allowing property owners and developers to build six-story apartments — through a process called upzoning — to accommodate more residents on a single lot in areas that were previously restricted to single-family homes. The city previously aimed to build 350 new units by 2040, but with the new zoning reform, that estimate has grown to 4,880.

Developers and government officials are turning to a slew of different methods to address the affordable housing shortage in Sacramento, California. They’re developing micro apartments that are less than 500 square feet and allowing homeowners to build accessory dwelling units on their land, for example.

Micro apartment communities with rent prices well below the city average are popping up in Sacramento as a way to address the affordable housing crisis. The units in these buildings are often significantly less than 500 square feet, can house no more than two people, and must provide a kitchen and a bathroom. To live there, tenants have to meet specific income requirements.

Sacramento, California, is increasing the number of affordable housing units built in the city by implementing deed restrictions that limit prices and require occupancy by low-income residents, providing free permit-ready building plans for accessory dwelling units, and prioritizing quick approvals by the city government.

Across the country, cities are pursuing office-to-housing conversions after the pandemic decimated downtown business districts. A percentage of these new apartments are required to be offered at affordable, below-market rates and some cities are also offering tax breaks for developers to incentivize these conversions.

The rising cost of housing in cities like Orlando is making it difficult for people who work in the service and entertainment industries to find housing near their place of work. In response, entertainment giants like Universal Studios Florida and the Walt Disney Company are donating land near their theme parks and working with developers to build affordable housing.

Due to a state-wide housing shortage, the Friends Center for Children in New Haven, Connecticut, purchased and refurbished housing units for its teachers and their families to live in for free. This bonus to teachers' salaries helps attract and retain employees, a difficult task in the industry.

The California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency Act eliminated single-family zoning so homeowners can split their lots to create rentals and make more housing available statewide.

After the 2018 Camp Fire that tore through the town of Paradise, California, local residents are starting to rebuild. As of April, the town issued nearly 1,500 building permits. They’re also implementing a plan to remove trees that pose a safety concern for residents, which has been an extensive coordination effort between federal, state, and local government officials. Housing prices in the area have increased significantly making it difficult for some people to rebuild, but some organizations are working to help those that want to return to the area.