Believe It or Not, There Was a Time when the US Government Built Beautiful Homes for Working-Class Americans to Deal with a Housing Crisis

What a wartime housing boom reveals about solving America’s housing crisis

In 1918, as World War I intensified overseas, the U.S. government embarked on a radical experiment: It quietly became the nation’s largest housing developer, designing and constructing more than 80 new communities across 26 states in just two years. These weren’t hastily erected barracks or rows of identical homes. They were thoughtfully designed neighborhoods, complete with parks, schools, shops and sewer systems. In just two years, this federa…

There Was a Time When the US Government Built Beautiful Homes for Working-Class Americans

Republished with permission from The Conversation, by Eran Ben-Joseph, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) In 1918, as World War I intensified overseas, the U.S. government embarked on a radical experiment: It quietly became the nation’s largest housing developer, designing and constructing more than 80 new communities across 26 states in just two years. These weren’t hastily erected barracks or rows of identical homes. They were thought…

Believe it or not, there was a time when the US government built beautiful homes for working-class Americans to deal with a housing crisis

The U.S. Housing Corporation built nearly 300 homes in Bremerton, Wash., during World War I. National ArchivesIn 1918, as World War I intensified overseas, the U.S. government embarked on a radical experiment: It quietly became the nation’s largest housing developer, designing and constructing more than 80 new communities across 26 states in just two years. These weren’t hastily erected barracks or rows of identical homes. They were thoughtfully…

Free Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Solve Housing Crisis

The Trump administration has the chance to finally close the book on the last big unfinished business from the financial crisis.

While the rate of homeownership has fallen, housing prices have broken records. Over the last 10 years, more than 7 million people have become renters, and the unsold housing stock has reached 1.6 million.