January 05, 2023

Washington, DC, like many cities across the country, has struggled to address the lack of affordable housing while many office spaces remain vacant. Because the federal government owns or leases one-third of office spaces in the city, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser recently called on President Biden “to either get most federal workers back to the office, most of the time, or to realign their vast property holdings for use by the local government, by nonprofits, by businesses and by any user willing to revitalize it.”

A free program in Seattle, Washington, will issue a no-cost identification card to people experiencing homelessness who don’t have valid driver’s license. “That is our key, key factor into getting someone into housing,” said Nichole Alexander, the Public Defender Association’s director of special initiatives and outreach. “Everything we need to get you into housing, we need identification.”

Early this year, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) plans to break ground on the first two CDOT-financed employee housing developments. CDOT, like many other state mountain employers, has struggled to maintain and fill positions as the housing affordability crisis worsens. The state patrol, struggling with similar challenges, has joined forces with CDOT, reserving additional apartment units and looking at further participation.

Cleveland’s first rooftop solar program designed specifically for families with low and moderate incomes installed solar panels on about half a dozen homes. In Cleveland, about 60 percent of residents have a high energy burden, meaning they spend more than 6 percent of their income on utility costs, and more than 40,000 of those households have a severe energy burden. “One of the major things is breaking the ice—getting solar into communities that have historically been left behind,” said Tristan Rader, Ohio program director for Solar United Neighbors.