There is a lot to like about accessory dwelling units—garage apartments, in-law cottages, granny flats—as a form of housing. Done well, ADUs can help meet the needs for multigenerational families, workers and students, and they offer a gentler form of infill density in urban neighborhoods. They can also provide a source of income and build wealth for the homeowners who choose to build them. What will it take to spark a “backyard revolution” in Houston?
The urban population centers in Texas are losing their competitive edge in terms of housing costs, and it's becoming more expensive to build houses everywhere. Could 3D-printed housing help cities keep pace with demand and keep costs under control? One of the largest tests of the technology will soon be underway.
Houston has made considerable progress in reducing homelessness in the past decade. We know exactly what it will take to become the first major city to effectively end homelessness—including how many affordable housing units we’ll need to build.
PERSPECTIVES:
HOUSING | SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DISPARITY
Zillow’s recent high-profile offloading of its properties drew attention to the relatively new “iBuyer” sector of the housing economy. In this blog post, I explain this sector and map the location of Zillow and other iBuyer properties within Harris County. My analysis suggests that while urbanists often mull over gentrification, and this Institute often researches the subject, it doesn’t seem to apply to what’s happening to the communities where speculative investors operate.
Any attempt by Houston or Harris County to build new affordable housing will be for naught if thousands of existing units become unaffordable along the way. The Kinder Institute’s Housing Preservation in Harris County report examines the state of both forms of housing in hopes of identifying how the community can keep housing accessible to its working class residents.
