Summer 2018 – The Affordable Housing Issue
Summer 2018

Table of Contents

The Affordable Housing Issue

From the Editors

A Home for Everyone

We asked readers what they wanted to see in our affordable housing issue. More than 3,000 of you responded.

You wanted to know about community solutions — how cities are stopping gentrification, taking the greed out of development, and innovating ownership and financing models. You also told us that living in community was important — that maybe Americans had lost sight of that — and that multigenerational housing was a solution that could address the needs of an aging population along with those of a new generation of adults.

This helped us decide what stories to put in the issue. Something else did, too.

Read more
YES_Magazine_Housing_01.JPG

Tiny Houses Alone Can’t Solve the Housing Crisis. But Here’s What Can

People are looking beyond traditional boundaries to find housing that works for them.
Chris Winters
houses-primary.jpg
Just the Facts

Infographic: Why Normal People Can’t Afford a House

The U.S. is better at subsidizing wealthy people than low-income people.
Chris Winters & Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz
jackson-3.jpg

After Centuries of Housing Racism, a Southern City Gets Innovative

In Jackson, Mississippi, community land trusts are key to fair and affordable development.
Adam Lynch
disasterrecovery_primary.JPG

Forget FEMA Trailers: Here’s How to House People in a Hurry

“We don’t need to wait for a hurricane to hit. We can get started with the recovery right now.”
Daniel Blue Tyx
affordable-housing-multigenerational.jpg

Creating Affordable Homes for Multigenerational Living

Houses for large moderate-income families are scarce. A few innovative developers are looking to change that.
Kevon Paynter
housing-rent-primary.jpg

Renters Get One Step Closer to Homeownership With This Innovative Program

A Cincinnati nonprofit works to give renters a reason to stay and invest in their homes.
Shaima Shamdeen
housing-grandma.jpg

Granny Flats Offer One Solution to Housing Affordability Crisis

These smaller homes are an easier, faster way to build more housing, but zoning restrictions have kept them illegal in many cities.
Kevon Paynter & Lornet Turnbull
landtrust1.jpg

To Combat Gentrification, One City Is Changing How Homes Are Bought and Sold

The city of Buffalo is supporting its first community land trust, designed to give neighbors control over land use and to keep housing affordable.
Lornet Turnbull
renternation.jpg

How to Protect a Renter Nation

Laws that help renters are based on the belief that housing is a right for all, not just for those who own homes.
Deonna Anderson
affordable-housing-rich.jpg

How the Ultrarich Can Help Fix the Affordable Housing Crisis

A growing number of people invest in real estate they never intend to occupy and push up prices for the rest of us. Cities should make them pay.
Chuck Collins
skycity_primary.jpg

The Lost Indigenous Housing Designs

Developed over thousands of years, traditional architecture can also build climate resiliency.
Kayla DeVault
hawaii-poem.jpg

Poem: A Make-Believe Nation

How can living in paradise be so hard?
Craig Santos Perez

Comic: The Upside of Crowded Living

What I went through to find a place to live in the fifth most expensive city for renting.
Alexa Strabuk
Stansfield_Yes_Britni.jpg

A New Generation Lives a Different American Dream—And They’re Happy

Millennials, sometimes referred to as “generation rent,” are having to get creative and find alternative housing options.
A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez

Solutions We Love

Explore Section
salmonjustice_primary.jpg

5 Reasons Salmon Are an Environmental Justice Solution

We need wild salmon—and not just because they’re tasty. They are an indicator of ecosystem health.
Shannan Lenke Stoll
nativesoutdoors_primary.jpg

Posting Your Hike on Instagram? Now You Can Tag Your Location’s Indigenous Name

This Native climber created indigenous geotags for more than 40 mountains.
Isabelle Morrison
clitorosity_primary.jpg

Demystifying Female Anatomy with Street Art

The chalk drawings aim to educate and surprise.
Isabelle Morrison
ibo_omari.jpg

This Artist Finds Swastikas and Transforms Them Into Cartoons

The #PaintBack Project combats the spread of racism and bigotry with art.
Isabelle Morrison

Culture Shift

Explore Section
sioux-chef-cooking.jpg

Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change

Preparing food—and letting others in our communities cook for us—is how we become good citizens who engage with the communities around us.
Korsha Wilson
himpathyillo.jpg

What Came Before #MeToo: The Himpathy That Shaped Misogyny

Kate Manne’s “Down Girl” describes the origins of a punitive social system that keeps women in their place by rewarding compliance and punishing resistance.
Lilian Calles Barger
decolonize.jpg

Resisting the Power Structures That Keep Colonialism Alive

We must look at the roots of capitalism, white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, and anti-Blackness to leave settler colonialism in the past.
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
heirloomtomatoes_primary.jpg

How to Save Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Heirlooms are irresistible, not just because they’re delicious, but because growing them defies capitalism.
Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz