Housing: words and numbers June 28, 2007

The University of Minnesota's College of Design hosted a symposium on the future of affordable housing in the state last week. Focused on the practices of funding, designing, and developing housing, the symposium sought to cross-pollinate ideas between individuals involved in each field. Our own Michelle Baltus Pribyl was a both a panelist and a participant.

Several ideas were proposed to address the pervasive need for affordable housing, from increasing participation of the University of Minnesota in community education and outreach to post-occupancy research on innovative construction techniques. One notable comment was a suggestion to further enhance policy and funding coordination across state agencies related to housing, transportation, employment and education to more effectively utilize funds and increase long-term livability. (See a previous post, Live (commute) Work, on the relationship between housing and transportation.)

The symposium's keynote was given by Sherry Ahrentzen, Ph.D., the Associate Director for Research at The Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family, at Arizona State University. Ahrentzen discussed many of the odd housing statistics prevalent in the country: including the rising average home size but decreasing household size, the changing migratory patterns of baby-boomers, and the rising number of multi-generational households.

See more of her research at the Stardust Center's website.