Articles tagged 'Affordability Series'

State of Rental   June 28, 2023

2023 State of Rental Housing in the City of Chicago

This release of the State of Rental Housing in the City of Chicago updates key data on changing rental demand, the supply of rental housing, and how these dynamics affect access to affordable rental housing for Chicago's lowest income households.

May 10, 2018

Will going "small" put a dent in the affordability crisis?

Creative solutions to the housing affordability crisis are popping up all over the country. Micro-apartments—the Tiny Houses of apartment rentals—are at the forefront, but they aren’t the only ones. A Norwegian architect/engineer living in New York City is attaching apartment pods to the unused sides of tall buildings. A designer...

April 5, 2018

Chicago’s Affordable Housing Shortage Needs Neighborhood Solutions

Rentals in Cook County remain unaffordable for the majority of low- and moderate-income households. Our latest report on the state of renting in Cook County finds a continued affordability crunch as more people became renters in the past ten years while the affordable supply declined. This year’s report finds that the...

March 8, 2018

Building Affordable Housing Just Got That Much Harder

Finding a home that is affordable is getting a lot harder. Since 2005, the country has seen the largest increase of renters on record at the very moment that more than 10 percent of its affordable housing stock has been lost. And wages, especially for low-wage workers, have not kept...

February 2, 2018

New Tools in the Battle to Preserve Affordable Housing and Prevent Displacement

In December, we released an analysis and interactive map to help Chicago communities better understand gentrification pressures and the risk of displacement in their neighborhood. The tool identifies areas where home prices have appreciated faster than citywide averages and where a significant share of residents is vulnerable to displacement. We recently...

December 13, 2017

Using Data to Facilitate Regional Collaboration

The recently launched web-based mapping tool for Regional Housing Solutions allows local government and policymakers to see how a range of housing issues play out across the region, beyond municipal boundaries, and sets the stage for intergovernmental cooperation and advocacy. Cities across the nation are using data and analysis to understand...

September 6, 2017

Can a Shared-Ownership Housing Model Help Ensure Long Term Affordability?

Cities are turning to community land trusts in response to the affordable housing crisis.  As cities across the nation struggle to build and sustain housing that is affordable to low- and modest-income families, an often overlooked option is gaining new traction. Community land trusts, also called shared equity programs, first...

May 11, 2017

The Beloved Chicago Two-Flat Is In Distress

The two-flat has been a stepping stone to the middle class and a source of affordable housing for more than a century. But for how much longer? It’s been called a “workingman’s palace.” The humble two-flat is often named as one of Chicagoans favorite things about their hometown—along with hot jazz,...

March 27, 2017

Reading the Housing Policy Tea Leaves

HUD’s prospects under Ben Carson and ways to build more affordable housing despite it all Finding an affordable apartment is nearly impossible for those living on the margins, thanks in part to the shortfall of about 7.4 million affordable units nationally. And if the pundits are right, things may get worse...

January 31, 2017

Can the Housing Market Accommodate an Aging America?

Every day 10,000 Americans celebrate their 65th birthdays. That has been the case since 2011 and will be the case until 2030, according to Pew Research Center. At that point, nearly one in five Americans will be 65 or older.How will the housing market respond as these Baby Boomers enter old age en...