Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 229 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

After Hurricane Katrina, moms built new lives by building homes

Jessica Kutz

August 28, 2025 |

The 19th |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Biloxi, Mississippi

Moore Community House’s training program helps women get experience in tradeswork but also offers wraparound support, including childcare and a weekly stipend. However, recent federal funding cuts have significantly reduced the number of students the program is able to service.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Fifty Years After Mount Laurel, Affordable Housing Is Gaining Ground in New Jersey

Roshan Abraham

August 21, 2025 |

Next City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

In 2024, New Jersey passed a new law that formalized longstanding requirements that municipalities periodically submit affordable housing plans to the state. The law also created a new mediation program for municipalities that want to dispute the state’s calculation of its affordable housing requirements, and the new system has helped cut down on lawsuits that slow down the process of getting new housing approved.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How worker-ownership helped California Solar create good jobs

Brooke Larsen

June 01, 2025 |

High Country News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Grass Valley, California

At worker-owned cooperatives such as Cal Solar, a California-based solar company, the worker-owners shape company policies and report a greater sense of accountability, comraderie, and more resilience in the face of industry challenges, compared to their non-cooperative model peers.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Vernal takes a 'pretty big step' to help add businesses and homes to its downtown

Megan Banta

April 08, 2025 |

The Salt Lake Tribune |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Vernal, Utah

In 2021, Vernal, Utah, created a new mixed-use zoning ordinance, allowing developers to build commercial space on ground floors with residential units above. The ordinance led to two major downtown projects, each featuring 10,000 square feet of commercial space and 18 residential units. 14 of the 36 condos sold within three weeks at prices in the low-to-mid $300,000s, and most commercial spaces already secured tenants.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Upzoning in Cambridge Broke the YIMBY Mold

Kriston Capps

March 03, 2025 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge’s new zoning reform lessens housing restrictions by allowing property owners and developers to build six-story apartments — through a process called upzoning — to accommodate more residents on a single lot in areas that were previously restricted to single-family homes. The city previously aimed to build 350 new units by 2040, but with the new zoning reform, that estimate has grown to 4,880.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Building for the climate: How it's done in Switzerland

Jens von Larcher

November 24, 2024 |

Deutsche Welle (DW) |

Video |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: Switzerland

A cooperative in Switzerland is building sustainable apartments using recycled materials and green building practices to create carbon-neutral communal living spaces. These “cluster apartments” cut down on living space per person and save energy.

Read More
Go to Original Story
To save affordable housing, states promote resident-owned mobile home parks

Kevin Hardy

October 30, 2024 |

Stateline |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Residents of mobile home communities are coming together to collectively buy the land their houses are on and establish cooperatives. It ensures their rent stays affordable long term, and some state governments are making it easier to do so to help address housing affordability crises.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Passive House standards a solution for efficient affordable housing

Audrey F. Henderson

September 04, 2024 |

Energy News Network |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Housing developers are following the Passive House standards to create affordable housing that’s incredibly energy efficient. These buildings are air-tight with efficient ventilation and strategically positioned windows, so they don’t need central heating and cooling systems.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Massachusetts cities are quickly embracing new emission-slashing building code option

Sarah Shemkus

September 03, 2024 |

Energy News Network |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

The Massachusetts state government introduced a new building code, called the specialized stretch code, to set new construction up for decreased fossil fuel use. It’s an opt-in code, so municipalities vote on whether to adopt it, and many have.

Read More
Go to Original Story
One Strategy for the Arts to Beat Gentrification: Buy the Building

Anjulie Rao

May 19, 2024 |

Bloomberg |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Arts nonprofits across the U.S. are using creative, often complex, financial and organizational models to continue to provide a stable place for artists to thrive despite high real estate prices. In one example, a gallery director in Chicago created a nonprofit and a noncharitable LLC to purchase and redevelop a building that will have space for a retail tenant on the first floor.

Read More
Go to Original Story