Housing shortage
A few cities are regaining residents after shrinking during the pandemic
The vast majority of American cities are shrinking, but new data shows that a few are regaining residents after population declines early in the pandemic — bolstered, perhaps, by the rapid construction of new homes. Seattle, Houston, Atlanta and Tucson, Arizona, are among the cities that lost population between 2020 and 2021 but now have more people […]
Low fertility rates, high housing prices mean fewer children in most states
Thirty-five states have fewer children than they did five years ago, a situation caused by declining birth rates nationwide, but also by young families migrating across state borders in search of cheaper housing. Even in the 15 states that gained children, all but North Dakota experienced greater growth in the adult population, meaning children now […]
With few rentals available, states push local officials to allow more housing
In Massachusetts, where available rental apartments are scarcer than anywhere else, there’s a political battle raging over whether suburban towns should help boost the housing supply by allowing denser development. Similar debates have erupted all over the Northeast and West Coast, as officials in states with housing shortages scramble to keep their residents — and […]
Governors Push Faster Construction to Meet Housing Needs
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. PORTLAND, Ore. — Dick Anderson, a Republican state senator from coastal Oregon, has a chart and a readymade joke to illustrate the housing crisis facing his state. Up until 2006, his figures show, home building was on an upward trajectory […]
As Pandemic Rent Relief Ends, States Struggle to Prevent Homelessness
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. PORTLAND, Ore. — For almost three years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, states have had an unwelcome but ideal laboratory to test potential solutions to slow eviction, one of the most persistent challenges in preventing homelessness. Turns out, […]
The Nation’s Vacant Homes Present an Opportunity — and a Problem
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. With construction costs for new homes and interest rates soaring, vacant housing is drawing more attention as a shortcut to quickly getting more units on the market. But whether vacant homes are a curse or an opportunity depends on where […]
More Housing Is Coming – But the National Shortage Will Persist
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. Local officials across the country have approved more than a million construction permits for new single-family and multifamily housing this year. That’s up by nearly a third since 2019 and more than double the number from a decade ago, according […]
Factory-Built Homes Could Help Solve Housing Crisis
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. EUGENE, Ore. — As a boy in the late 1950s, Terry McDonald watched as workers built an 80,000 square-foot manufacturing plant in an industrial neighborhood on the west side of Eugene. Long after childhood, McDonald felt an affinity for the […]
‘Let’s Try Something New’ Meets the National Housing Squeeze
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. BOISE, Idaho — Riley Romazko and her fiancé Julien Rivera were among the first to buy a shipping container home at Caritas Commons, a cluster of single-family houses built for limited-income residents on a quiet street in an older Boise […]
Less Parking Could Mean More Housing
PORTLAND, Ore. — Citing environmental concerns and a lack of housing, an increasing number of cities and some West Coast states are reconsidering mandates that all homes, offices and businesses offer a minimum number of parking spots for residents, workers and customers. Leading the effort is Oregon, which is poised in July to enact permanent […]
Suburban Areas Saw Pandemic Population Boom
Smaller and suburban places drew most of the population growth in the first pandemic year, between mid-2020 and mid-2021, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today. The numbers confirm a trend predicted by a Stateline analysis earlier this year. Suburban cities in the West and South saw explosive growth. Georgetown, Texas, about 25 miles […]
Water Shortages Threaten Development in More Western Cities
As the Western United States endures an ongoing megadrought that has spanned more than two decades, an increasing number of cities, towns and water districts are being forced to say no to new growth. There’s just not enough water to go around. Last month, the California Coastal Commission urged San Luis Obispo County to stop […]