Innovation, cities and the future of housing

Author: Kara Murray-Badal, Director, Housing Venture Lab

Exactly one week from the election, there’s a single question I’m asked more than any other as the director of the Housing Venture Lab: what will housing policy look like under a new presidential administration? There's no question that the future of housing in the United States will be affected by the new chief executive; however, this still feels like the wrong question. The most valuable question now is how each of us can stay accountable to and take action towards a better housing future, regardless of who sits in the White House.

At Terner Labs, we work with housing affordability innovators scaling bold solutions to the housing crisis. Though many of these organizations could benefit from changes to national policy, in many cases, the partnerships and policy shifts most supportive of their work take place at the local level. Cities and localities have incredible power to fuel housing innovation in their jurisdictions. That is why today, in partnership with Ivory Innovations and Enterprise Community Partners, we are releasing a white paper: “The Case for Innovation in Housing”. The white paper draws from nine compelling case studies to provide guidance and actionable insights for local governments hoping to respond to the housing crisis.

Six of the featured organizations are alumni of the Housing Venture Lab. Some, like Frolic and Trust Neighborhoods, are navigating existing zoning laws and building regulations to create new models for cooperative living and structures for community ownership. Others, like A New Way of Life, are advocating for changes to single-room occupancy laws to help vulnerable communities live with safety and dignity. These case studies offer guidance on what is possible when cities implement creative changes to their housing policies to support diverse new solutions.

The timing of this release is intentional. With so much national attention on the presidential election, many of us are feeling anxious about what the future may hold. I have an amazing mentor who teaches self-defense classes for women. One of her principal lessons is that when you start to feel fear, the best thing you can do is become curious: look at your surroundings, make a plan based on what you see, and calm your fears with awareness. For those of us who work in or care about housing, it is time to get curious about our surroundings and consider what levers we might pull in our own communities to make them more accessible, sustainable and equitable. We have the power to do that now, and we will still have it regardless of what happens on November 5.

Read the white paper at the Enterprise Community Partners website.

Thank you to our partners at Ivory Innovations and Enterprise Community Partners, to the ventures featured in the report, and to the Wells Fargo Foundation for supporting this collaborative project.