How Building Community Value puts local development into the hands of Detroiters

Affordable housing in Singapore has resulted in one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world. In 1964 the government embraced a "Home Ownership for the People Scheme" in which it gave lower and middle-income citizens access to affordable home ownership. Subsidized apartments were sold at low prices and were not to be sold for at least five years after which the real estate value had risen significantly. Apartments sold in 2009, for example, gained almost half a million dollars in value by 2020. New subsidized apartments are under construction and 16,000 have already been sold in the past year.

A building cooperative is changing local zoning laws and building small houses known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the suburbs of Chicago. The efforts support economic equity by increasing the supply of housing in a community where housing and rental prices have been on the rise. ADUs also produce smaller carbon footprints, making them a sustainable housing option.

The Legacy Resident Retention program is helping longtime homeowners remain in their homes despite rising taxes and property values in Atlanta, Georgia. The program aims to mitigate gentrification and displacement as a result of the Atlanta Beltline development and has helped 21 families by covering the cost of increased property taxes.

Economic mobility becomes far more attainable when children grow up in a "high-opportunity" area as opposed to a "low-opportunity" area: housing within the city with access to transportation and amenities, higher-performing schools, and lower crime rates. An enhanced voucher program through the Charlotte Housing Authority offers families housing vouchers to move into high-opportunity areas. They also offer incentives to landlords who accept the vouchers, such as up to $1,000 to repair damage beyond normal wear and tear. The program is still new, and it will take generations to see its affects.

The number of cooperative living spaces in Boulder, CO is slowly increasing despite the public's opposition to creating residential coops amongst the overwhelmingly single-family, suburban lifestyle of the city. The scarcity of affordable living in Boulder has driven some residents to explore nontraditional housing opportunities that simultaneously reduce their rental expenses, reduce their carbon footprint, and allow them to create a community of like-minded people.

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.

The affordable housing crisis in Eagle, Colorado, is creating a severe staff shortage in local schools. So, the school district is partnering with organizations and developers like Habitat for Humanity to develop a mix of new apartments and houses that will be made available to school employees at affordable prices.

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.

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.