Unlike most U.S. communities, Milwaukee County has managed to make significant progress toward assisting unhoused residents through a Housing First approach.

For the last decade, Milwaukee County has been bucking a national trend, effectively reducing the number of homeless residents and assisting people with supportive services.
In a piece for Governing, Carl Smith explains how the county’s Housing First approach helped it reduce unsheltered homelessness by 92 percent in the program’s first five years. “By the 2021 HUD count, the county had the nation’s lowest per-capita unsheltered homeless population. Savings to behavioral health and criminal justice systems are also tracked; to date Milwaukee County's Housing First program has saved taxpayers more than $30 million,” Smith adds.
When housing became harder to find in 2023, the city hired a landlord engagement coordinator to incentivize property owners and identify vacancies. Assistance programs also depend heavily on local collaboration. For example, the Milwaukee Downtown business improvement district (BID) funds a homeless outreach coordinator position and two public service ambassadors.
FULL STORY: Year After Year, Milwaukee Manages to Reduce Homelessness

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?

Research Shows More Roads = More Driving
A national study shows, once again, that increasing road supply induces additional vehicle travel, particularly over the long run.

Which US Rail Agencies Are Buying Zero-Emissions Trains?
U.S. rail agencies are slowly making the shift to zero-emissions trains, which can travel longer distances without refueling and reduce air pollution.

San Diego School District Approves Affordable Housing Plan
The district plans to build workforce housing for 10 percent of its employees in the next decade and explore other ways to contribute to housing development.

Lawsuit Aims to Stop NYC’s ‘City of Yes’ Zoning Reforms
A lawsuit brought by local lawmakers and community groups claims the plan failed to conduct a comprehensive environmental review.
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