Traditional Solutions

A contemporary study of almshouses in the United Kingdom has found evidence that they may stretch an individual life expectancy by 2.5 years. How long have we known about...

'Naturally affordable' housing is the the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker of urban housing. (Not quite as likely to be extinct, true enough. The last recorded Ivory-Bill sighting in its Louisiana swamp...

A builder in the U.S. northwest argues that it is possible to lower construction costs, using conventional methods, without sacrificing quality. In the article below Mike Steffan, the builder,...

From California comes word of more, not less, zoning restriction. That's rare good news for existing affordable housing in America's rapidly-declining stock of trailer parks. Governments from the feds (think...

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are separate living suites within a principal residence, or standing alone somewhere on the property of that residence. A recent report from California has suggested...

Big families were once a big tradition in the now-developed world. There was good reason for Mom and Pop to have them. Who but their surviving children would look...

ADU is the short form for Accessory Dwelling Unit. They are also known as second suites, secondary rental units, grannie flats, in-law flats, accessory apartments and probably many more...

Zoning has weaknesses. It is exclusionary in nature, making it easy to divide one kind of neighborhood from another. That can lead to 'all or nothing' controversies like the...

With the prefabricated housing offering affordable housing possibilities worldwide, it's hardly surprising that 'mobile home parks', 'caravan parks', 'trailer parks' and similar solutions are being repackaged as 'manufactured home...

Private enterprise has had a long history of efficiently accommodating the public need for accommodation. But, thanks to the ever-stretching long arm of NIMBYism (read this New York Times article:...

Conservative thinkers who place their trust in the economic theory of 'supply and demand' believe that affordable housing will be delivered as and where needed by the unrestricted operation...

From the perspective of a global and national affordable housing crisis, its difficult to avoid shaking the head in disbelief at the sight of a city, blessed with a...

What happens when the brave new affordable world of public/private partnerships meets only half the annual demand for affordable housing? What happens? It's obvious. The demand for affordable housing just...

Rooming Houses have inherited the prejudices of another era. Low rent, low class, catering to single, rootless, "ne're-do-wells", a festering sore on the backside of any upright community. But do...