How Brazil Absorbed a Million Visitors Without Enough Hotel Rooms

Manufactured housing—including trailer homes and tiny houses—is a low-cost, small-footprint way to increase affordable housing. However, strict zoning requirements and even outright bans limit its impact.

In Oakland, a community land trust helped Hasta Muerte, a local cafe, avoid eviction. All over the country, community land trusts are helping communities of color keep their affordable housing.

A growing number of tenant-focused websites are trying to level the power dynamic between shoddy landlords and tenants by giving tenants a voice. “There is a big power mismatch in today’s rental market, but it doesn’t have to be that way.” Amongst those is Rentlogic, which grades 1.1 million apartment buildings, but rather than relying on subjective comments the website provides a grade based on an algorithm.

Proposition F, passed in 2018 with an implementation deadline of July 2019, cements San Francisco as a key advocate in making legal representation accessible, especially in eviction cases. By passing a similar measure to one passed in New York, all renters now are eligible for legal counsel in eviction cases, regardless of their income level. The program is still in the early stages, but there is a potential for cost savings, too. With fewer evictions, there will likely be a lower demand for homeless and jail services.

Manchester, New Hampshire is seeing early success with a new program that helps keep mothers battling addiction in contact with their children. Based on the premise that keeping parents connected with their child during their addiction recovery will result in more successful recoveries, the program provides the supports for overnight visits and consistent contact.

A program run by the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin uses government vouchers to encourage landlords to create additional affordable housing units with extra rooms in their home. The program, which primarily focuses on "junior accessory dwelling units" that offer small but low-price units to individuals, has created 22 affordable units over the last three years.

Santa Monica, California piloted an experiment that sends rental checks to seniors in the city. After seeing positive results, the program now plans to expand 10-fold.

As colleges and universities across the United States have shifted to online classes and shut down their campuses, not every student simply has the ability to move home. To help support these students, many of whom are low-income or international, the Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project began working with local communities to find housing for displaced students, as well as to provide other support like money or supplies.

Old and neglected housing contributes to climate change because it runs on fossil fuels. In New York, outdated heating systems waste two-thirds of energy. The New York City Housing Authority is not only trying to create better, safer, livable affordable housing, but also cleaner and more sustainable housing. While the city is just beginning to explore how to do that, other cities, like Paris, have already begun the work of updating old buildings that are used for affordable housing and can offer a model for American cities.

Efforts throughout Texas to reduce homelessness are serving as inspiration for states like California, that have similar homelessness issues. From committing funding to homeless reduction programs to establishing more advanced shelters like The Navigation Center, the state recorded a 28% drop in homelessness last year and has helped several individuals transition into permanent housing.