Housing Solutions Lab
Helping cities plan, launch, and evaluate equitable housing policies
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Housing Solutions Workshop
The Housing Solutions Workshop (the Workshop), in collaboration with Abt Associates, is a virtual, three-week-long training opportunity offered annually for small and midsize city leaders interested in pursuing comprehensive local housing strategies.
What we offer
A comprehensive and balanced local housing strategy provides a guiding framework for cities and counties to identify and coordinate the policy tools and stakeholders required to make substantial progress toward meeting their housing needs. The Workshop is designed to familiarize localities with the steps involved in developing housing strategies to better address affordability and other housing challenges. (You can learn more about developing a local comprehensive housing strategy here.)
The Workshop combines asynchronous learning, group discussions with peer localities, and working sessions in which each jurisdiction focuses on its specific housing challenges and develops its policy toolkit as they receive feedback from the Lab and fellow participants. Skills developed during the Workshop include:
- Learning to use data to assess housing needs, link objectives with policies, and track progress.
- Discovering ways to engage residents and stakeholders to address housing challenges and advance racial equity
- Strengthening local housing strategies and improving coordination across departments and agencies.
Why join?
Multiple small and midsize city and county delegations have joined our workshops, including Pasco, WA, a participant in our 2021 Workshop. You can read a Q&A with Pasco Planning Manager Jacob Gonzalez to learn what drew him to the Workshop and what his city learned from the experience.
“Our team really appreciated the sessions and facilitators. Specifically, the session about equity and how important it is to really acknowledge and address the role housing policies have played, and still play, in whether or not folks can access housing.”
—Jacob Gonzalez, Pasco Planning Manager
If your jurisdiction is interested in applying, you can find the application, eligibility information, and commonly asked questions on our Call for Applications page. The Workshop is typically offered in October of each year.
If you have questions about this learning opportunity, contact Director of City Engagement Jess Wunsch at jess.wunsch@nyu.edu. You can also sign up for our mailing list here.
