On the housing shortage in the flyover states (and, as one consequence, being Black and moving to a rural, mostly white place)

America's housing shortage got lots of attention this week due to a new report from Up for Growth, "a network of industry groups, academics, public officials, environmental and racial-justice organizations working to solve the U.S. housing shortage."  

NPR did a fabulous and really textured story, prompted by the report.  Among others with housing woes, they featured an African-American couple from Atlanta, Danielle and Colin Lloyd.  Disappointed at their inability to buy a house in Atlanta where the market is really hot, they wound up doing what is called "drive til you qualify."  In their case, that took them an hour from Atlanta to the community of Walnut Grove, population 1,330. Here are their comments about that experience:  

They can both mostly work remotely, so they're not too worried about the commute.

They just moved in a couple of weeks ago. And they are feeling a little apprehensive about being an African American family moving from the city into a tiny rural town that is nearly 90% white, according to census data. There's a bit of a culture clash too.

"Moving to country Georgia where there's an ammo shop down the street, it's like a constant in your face," Danielle says.

But the couple says the neighbors seem friendly. There are other families with kids. So they're feeling hopeful.

"I love the idea of like when the kids are a little older saying, 'Yeah, go play at your friend's house.'" Danielle imagines what it will be like watching them run over to the neighbor's place: "I can see them, like, at the corner, you know. 'I'll watch you ride over there,'" she says. "I love that."

The story also features quantitative data on where the housing crisis is worst.  Not surprisingly, all of the places featured are metropolitan, though some are associated with rurality. In Texas, these include Laredo,  along with McAllen and Brownsville in the Rio Grande Valley.   In California, they include Salinas, Modesto and Oxnard/Thousand Oaks.  Also listed is Gainesville, Georgia, which is exurban Atlanta, and home to massive poultry processing infrastructure.  Indeed, many of the places I've listed here are associated with agricultural work and agribusiness.  

The New York Times also published an analysis of the Up for Growth report, along with an interactive map, under the headline, "The Housing Shortage Isn’t Just a Coastal Crisis Anymore."  Here's the lede for Emily Badger and Eve Washington's story:  

San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Washington have long failed to build enough housing to keep up with everyone trying to live there. And for nearly as long, other parts of the country have mostly been able to shrug off the housing shortage as a condition particular to big coastal cities.

But in the years leading up to the pandemic, that condition advanced around the country: Springfield, Mo., stopped having enough housing. And the same with Appleton, Wis., and Naples, Fla.

Among the less well known (albeit not rural) places mentioned in the NYT story: Muskegon, Michigan; Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Yuma, Arizona; and Merced, California.  

Bloomberg also picked up this Up for Growth report.  Their headline was "Can I Buy a Home?  Shortage of Housing Becomes Crisis Across the United States." 

Meanwhile, you'll find the blog has lots of past stories on rural housing issues.