April 20, 2023

Federally backed loans have driven a surge in mobile home park acquisitions, resulting in higher rents or the closure of parks for redevelopment, leaving residents with limited options. “What Fannie and Freddie really should be doing is making it easier to help people buy their own community and yet what they’re doing is they’re helping these predatory investors buy communities,” said Jim Gray, a nonresident senior fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

City planners are addressing the lack of “middle housing” in St. Paul, Minnesota, by updating zoning codes to allow for denser housing like duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes, which only make up 11 percent of the city’s housing supply. “This is really about increasing the supply of housing,” said Luis Pereira, planning director in the city’s Department of Planning and Economic Development.

Passive House buildings use energy-efficient technology to reduce energy use, emit fewer greenhouse gasses, deliver lower utility bills, and boast superior air quality. Advocates believe they should become the norm, especially for affordable housingprojects. “There are a ton of economic and social benefits that I think passive house can deliver that are particularly important for these [low-income] communities,” said Yu Ann Tan, a senior researcher at the Rocky Mountain Institute.

The Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design, a federal program that helps improve quality of life and economic strength of small rural communities, is working closely with Spring Grove, Minnesota, residents and students to design a multipurpose community hub. “It’s kind of a part of our larger strategy to really make sure that our youth feel like they belong, and that there’s a place for them in the community,” said Courtney Bergey Swanson, Economic Development Authority director of Spring Grove.