A recent Community and Economic Development blog post outlined the concept of Workforce Housing – housing affordable to households earning 60 – 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI) – including the roots of workforce housing initiatives, and how macroeconomic trends have challenged the supply of hous … Read more

North Carolina communities are undergoing rapid economic change at different rates in different parts of the state.  Issues such as affordable housing, appropriate rate levels for public services, costs of commuting and wage growth (or stagnation) are now key for CED officials, whether your communit … Read more

In many cities across the country, it is increasingly difficult for middle-income workers to buy or rent housing in the areas in which they work. This is in part due to wages not keeping up with increasing costs of living but is also due to the limited supply of housing affordable to these workers. … Read more

  The state’s Abandoned Manufactured Homes Program has been underway for a decade but has not had the impact that its sponsors had hoped for. Over 100,000 abandoned manufactured homes litter the landscape posing environmental and public health concerns in every county in North Carolina. This po … Read more

At the Environmental Finance Center, we think a lot about the affordability of public services including environmental services such as drinking water.  Historically, many programs have measured affordability by looking at the cost of service compared to a community’s median household income, though … Read more

The scale and complexity of the issues surrounding North Carolina’s manufactured homes stock was the subject of a previous blog post, Hidden in Plain Sight.  Over 1.3 million people in the state live in 480,000 manufactured homes, making them a vital part of the affordable housing stock especially i … Read more

The Northside Neighborhood Initiative (NNI) is a collaborative effort among Northside residents, the Jackson Center, Self-Help, UNC, the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, as well as the area affordable housing agencies. Together, they work towards honoring the history of the Northside neighborhood … Read more

The 1999 Olmstead v. LC decision, also known as the Olmstead Decision or simply Olmstead, marked one the most important civil rights cases for people with disabilities in the United States. Underpinned by the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Olmstead Decision brought forth a framewo … Read more

Mobile homes are a vital but generally unloved part of North Carolina’s affordable housing stock. They come to public attention in times of extreme weather, particularly high winds and floods. Their condition and location make them especially vulnerable to damage, and often their occupants – the eld … Read more

Throughout the United States, the cost of housing is rising faster than incomes. While there are many discussions taking place around this issue, an important one is how the types of housing being developed can have an impact on affordability, particularly in areas where demand is high – namely, wal … Read more