Editor’s Note

The Editor’s Note provides a window into the thinking behind Shelterforce’s articles, Under the Lens series, videos, and more.

A composite picture that includes blueprint-style drawings on blue, a row of apartments in pink and a tall tower in blue. Large figures are a smiling young woman with long black hair and a smiling young man in a wheelchair. Smaller images include people with canes and in wheelchairs, and two men seated on a bench at a bus stop, the older one wearing dark glasses and holding a cane.

Disability Justice and Equity in Housing

Welcome to Shelterforce’s newest Under the Lens series, Not Just Ramps—Disability and Housing Justice. This introductory article lays out why the connection between disability and affordable housing is so strong, and why it’s so important for housers to understand.

AFFH: Third Time’s the Charm?

What’s the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provision? How has it been enforced in the past? And what do fair housing advocates think of the proposed changes? Shelterforce’s new Under the Lens series—New AFFH Rules: What You Need to Know—explores that and more.

Inflation and the Consumer Price Index—Redirected Page

The article originally published at this url, "Inflation Is Raising Rents—But Not How You Think," has been removed because we have determined that it was based upon a flawed premise about the way the...
An illustration show tenants rallying on the streets. Some have signs that read "Rent is Too Damn High." The illustration is part of Shelterforce's series "Tenant Power Returns."

Tenants Rights: It’s Not a Moment, It’s a Movement

In "Tenant Power Returns," Shelterforce examines how the energy and focus in the housing world is returning to tenant organizing.

Making Money Over Making Homes

Housing has become less about shelter and more about extracting profit. How has that way of thinking changed the market and what are housing advocates trying to do about it? In our new series—Homes or Cash Cows—Shelterforce explores the financialization of housing.

What Does It Take to Get ADUs Built?

In our new series—ADUs Explained—we’ll look at some of the major policy considerations in legalizing accessory dwelling units, how they get built and financed, and the role they can play in our affordable housing landscape.

Moving Beyond the Holy Trinity of Racial Wealth Gap Answers

We’ve been carrying out asset-building strategies for decades now, but the wealth gap has not shrunk. What needs to be done about it?

Building Differently: Can It Reduce Construction Costs?

Experiments to lower construction costs, from reusing shipping containers to 3D printing walls, have been happening for years. But are any of these approaches able to provide meaningful savings at scale?

How Community Ownership Is Evolving

The latest Shelterforce series takes a closer look at community land trusts and cooperatives to see how both are evolving.

How Have Things Changed? We Look Back at Our Past Coverage

Did promising or ambitious initiatives pan out? Did trends that seemed to be going strong stay on course? We revisit our past coverage and ask, “Whatever happened to that?”

Big Changes Coming to Shelterforce

We’re committed to doing the best for all our readers and the field we serve, and that’s why we’ve made a difficult decision to ...
Harold Simon, executive director of Shelterforce.

Harold Simon, Shelterforce’s Executive Director and Publisher, to Step Down

After 26 years, Harold Simon will be stepping down from his role as Shelterforce’s executive director and publisher on May 8, 2020.

Bringing Justice Home

Chances are high that community developers are working in areas and with populations that are being strongly affected by overpolicing and hyper-incarceration. In this issue we take a look at that intersection.

Connected Neighborhoods

Transportation is the second largest direct expenditure for American households, after housing. Of course transportation costs vary widely based on where you live, how far you have to travel to work and other activities,...

Shifting our Thinking About Rural Coverage

Shelterforce has had its comfort zones, and we’ve largely stayed within them. But it was time to shift our thinking so rural areas were more clearly part of the fold.

From Sustainability to Resilience

My first reaction to the emergence of “resilience” as a lens for viewing community development was mostly informed by skepticism.
The cover of the Winter 2019 edition of Shelterforce magazine, which focuses on housing markets.

Housing Markets Vary—So Must Our Tactics

There is widespread understanding about the vast differences in life outcomes that statistically come with different neighborhoods.
The cover of the Winter 2018 edition of Shelterforce magazine.

There’s Opportunity in Vacancy

Thinking of abandoned properties as merely problems we wish would go away feeds into some of the less productive ways vacant properties have been handled.
Shelterforce cover for issue 191 focusing on renters rising. Articles focus on rent regulations, discrimination against voucher holders, rent control, and more.

Renters Rise Again

Rent regulation is no longer being discussed as a vestigial holdover from a previous age, but actively debated and organized for by renters and activists.
A view of a community in Oregon, with an American flag framing the left hand side. Lots of trees in the area.

The State of Permanent Affordability

In the face of accelerating gentrification, along with ongoing speculation and eviction, the idea of putting a substantial number of homes outside of the reach of the speculative market has been gaining momentum across the country.