From the Field
Shelterforce has always been driven by the voices of the people in the housing field. From the Field pieces are neither reported journalism nor standard opinion pieces, but articles that share knowledge, insight, lessons learned, or examples from people who work, organize, or volunteer in the field.
The Latest
How State Coalitions Are Advancing Community Ownership of Housing
In recent years, housing coalitions promoting community land trusts and real estate cooperatives have formed in multiple cities and states—and they are achieving results. Nonetheless, a lot of work is needed to achieve the policy changes these groups desire.
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How We Rewrote a Tax Incentive to Encourage More Affordable Housing
Chattanooga, Tennessee, aligned its housing tax incentive with the actual cost of charging more affordable rents. Developers are participating.
How Camden County is Using Shared Housing to Tackle Homelessness—Without New Funding
A county-backed initiative is helping providers design and launch housing pilot programs in New Jersey, with money that was already in the system.
Property Taxes Aren’t the Cause of Our Housing Crisis, They’re a Solution to It
Taxing land and buildings at different rates can discourage land speculation and encourage housing development.
We’re Making Housing Harder to Preserve Than It Should Be
To maintain older housing stock, aligning programs to address building deterioration before it is severe offers big payoffs, preserving both homes and housing affordability.
Program Mismatches Keep Repair Funds Unused
A Massachusetts initiative uncovers how fragmented programs make healthy homes harder to achieve—and helps local leaders reduce the friction.
Beyond Basic Health Standards: Designing for Well-being
An architect’s guide to affordable housing design that goes beyond the baseline.
Four Ways to Address the Housing Challenges Older Chinese Immigrants Face
For low-income seniors with limited English and tech proficiency, navigating New York City’s affordable housing systems is a challenge. To help, we must think beyond affordability.
RAD Plan in Chelsea Will Build in Mixed-Income Housing—But Disrupt Low-Income Seniors
A public housing redevelopment plan in Manhattan will add mixed-income housing—but some of the first wave of tenants who would have to leave are refusing to go.
What Does It Mean to Increase Racial Equity in Housing?
Some strategies aim to increase access to the existing system, while others try to make the system itself return fairer outcomes. It’s important to know which kind we’re using.
What Would It Take to Make Community Ownership the Rule, Not the Exception?
Here are the steps to having economies operated by stewardship, not speculation.
Harnessing the Shock of Disaster to Propel Change
Sometimes disasters open a space for bigger and faster positive change. In Lahaina, Hawai’i, after the devastating fires in 2023, community leaders built on preexisting relationships to approach housing and land in new ways.
Tenants’ Rights and Taking Out the Trash
A conversation about what it means—or could mean—to have resident control over property management.