Where The Community Owns The Real Estate

Kaua'i County Housing Agency uses a community engagement model for its master-planned affordable housing developments, involving community advisory committees, multiple public meetings, surveys, and online tools that allow residents to shape key housing and community decisions. The agency has applied this model for over a decade, with great results, including Lima Ola, a 550-unit workforce housing community.

Community organizations in Milwaukee's Metcalfe Park neighborhood are tackling the city's homeownership crisis through lease-to-own programs that convert foreclosed properties into affordable homes for long-term renters. Metcalfe Park Community Bridges' Reclaim and Restore initiative purchases foreclosed homes from the city, rehabs them using donor and foundation funding, and transfers ownership to neighborhood residents through an equity-based lottery system with monthly payments as low as $901.

Several cities have fully banned or passed ordinances regulating Airbnb and other short-term rentals to prevent the cities from being overrun by tourists and rental properties. These policies combat the “Airbnb effect” that has been seen in cities from Irvine, California all the way to Bed-Stuy in New York. Cities that have passed these ordinances see lower rent rates, more equitable housing markets and a more sustainable tourism economy.

Members of a water-insecure community mobilized to contribute a portion of their monthly stipends to repair and maintain the singular borehole providing water to the village. The community members — primarily women — also installed water taps throughout the community in locations like schools and mosques to ensure easy access to clean, safe drinking water.

After an earthquake devastated the town of Düzce, Turkey, residents banded together to create a housing cooperative and later Düzce Hope Studio, a group of pro-bono architects and engineers working to help rebuild the town. What makes the building team unique is that the design process included and valued residents’ voices. Yaşar Adanah, an urban researcher, states, “What’s happening in Düzce is a rare example of a holistic approach to housing that can be a model for other neighborhoods.”

Civic leaders in the U.S. struggle to effectively help their distressed neighborhoods. East Lake, Atlanta, created a replicable model that mixes residents of differing socio-economic status, and focuses on education and health in the area.

A small, participant-led weekly arts and crafts group in Barrow has helped around 15 men living with mental health conditions, dementia, and autism build social connections and overcome anxiety-related challenges.

The Heurich House Museum in Washington, D.C., has created two targeted initiatives—the Urban Manufacturing Incubator and the DC Makers' Guild—to support local small-scale artisan businesses facing barriers to growth such as high rent fees and limited visibility. These programs provide mentorship, business coaching, market entry opportunities, like various mini markets throughout the year, and advocacy support to improve market conditions for these small businesses.

Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) like BlueHub Loan Fund are stepping up to help create and preserve affordable housing. BlueHub Loan Fund recently financed a project in Nashville that converted two abandoned motels into affordable studio apartments, when larger banks wouldn’t finance the project.

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.