Scaling Affordable Solutions in Small Communities

The need for affordable housing is not limited to urban areas. Small, rural communities need a variety of housing options that are walkable, affordable, and close to transit and employment opportunities.

In the Pacific Northwest city Rossland, in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada, a smaller multifamily development project is hard to implement. Economic adviser Kimberly Player writes for the Urban Land Institute that there are three major barriers to adding this type of density and affordability into the market: economics, lack of resources, and the perception of the community, "Stigmas around affordable housing can translate into neighborhood resistance. Even so, attractive opportunities exist, including the ability to develop infill sites that take advantage of existing infrastructure.

On the upper end, the population in small towns tends to be older and aging more rapidly than its urban counterparts. According to a survey conducted by the Housing Assistance council, one-quarter of U.S. seniors live in rural communities and 54 percent of rural senior renters are cost burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing. The shortage of affordable rental product is also affecting a younger, low- to mid-income workforce segment.

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