October 28, 2021

The US Department of the Treasury reported that state, local, and tribal officials disbursed about $10.7 billion in rental assistance as of the end of September—less than a quarter of the aid Congress approved. Soon, Treasury plans to recapture funds from areas where disbursement is slow and redistribute aid to other areas of the country. Eviction rates are below historic averages, and experts suggest states implement their own eviction bans and putting their own tenant legal protections in place is helping. “Even with the stronger performance we know that if we don’t do better nationwide, hundreds of thousands of families will still unnecessarily face that painful eviction or risk of eviction,” said Gene Sperling, a senior adviser to the president.

A recent study by George Washington University researchers found that residents have “uniformly better” cardiovascular health outcomes—including lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and lower rates of prescribed blood pressure medication—in places with inclusionary zoning policies. The authors focused on inclusionary zoning because the policy aims to bring people with low and moderate incomes into higher-income areas. “If this is a mechanism that’s supposed to produce neighborhood socioeconomic equity, then you would expect that any health outcomes in that area would be greater than in areas that don’t have this tool,” says coauthor Antwan Jones.

In the US, more than 10 million job openings remained unfilled at the end of August, while a hot housing market struggles to keep up with demand. The location gap between affordable housing and jobs, known as spatial mismatch, has widened during the pandemic. Cities with the most job openings lack affordable housing options, and areas where housing is cheaper lack promising labor markets. “People need safe, stable, affordable housing in high-opportunity neighborhoods in order to have any upward economic mobility. Certainly having affordable housing near jobs will help us get there,” said Christina Stacy, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute.

To address affordability challenges and the shortage of skilled labor and rising material costs, developers are building 3D-printed homes. San Francisco–based company, Mighty Buildings, is also adapting its technology to mass-produce homes without releasing too much carbon into the atmosphere. It’s partnered with a company that figured out how to trap those emissions in an innovative low-carbon cement. “We make houses as tools to fight climate change,” said cofounder Sam Ruben.