The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 seemed to reverse a longstanding decline in the share of Americans who move each year. Media narratives painted a picture of a nation on the move, with suburbs, rural areas, and vacation towns inundated with people fleeing dense population centers. But is there evidence of that spike?
In March 2021, the Biden Administration released the American Jobs Plan, earmarking $213B for “quality” and “affordable” housing, yet the bill lacks specificity on how houses are to be built. Here housing’s problem is split into two: a social one of accessibility and equity, and a material one of wood, metal, and rocks. Architects can play a unique role in bridging abstract policy ambitions to real construction as these connections are made every day in practice.
Many Americans who need accessibility features live in homes don’t have them. In this talk, Jennifer Molinsky, project director for the Center’s new Housing an Aging Society Program, will discuss a forthcoming paper that explores the demographic characteristics of residents who have challenges entering, navigating, and using their homes
Application deadlines are fast approaching for our summer fellowships and research grants. We invite Harvard graduate students to join us for a virtual open house to learn more about funding opportunities the Center offers.
Secretary Fudge believes the country’s housing issues do not fit into a one-size-fits-all approach. We need policies and programs that can adapt to meet a community’s unique housing challenges. She is committed to making the dream of homeownership - and the security and wealth creation that comes with it - a reality for more Americans.
Design approaches that better reflect the community desires as well as more effective ways to fund and provide high-quality services for residents will be the focus of presentations by two Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) students who were the Center’s 2021 Gramlich Fellows in Community and Economic Development.
The persistent and substantial gap in homeownership rates between white households and households of color has greatly contributed to growing wealth disparities. Several promising new efforts attempt to address the underlying issues through comprehensive, race-conscious, place-based initiatives that have been developed and implemented in collaborative ways.
