New Case Study Posted on HUD User

Revolutionizing Affordable Housing in Rural Alabama

HUD User publishes a series of case studies based on federal, state, and local strategies that increase affordable housing opportunities and support sustainable community development. The projects and community development efforts featured in these reports have demonstrated innovation through a multitude of partnerships and initiatives.

Since 1993, the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at Auburn University has hosted Rural Studio, a program in which architecture students, with faculty guidance, work on projects aimed at alleviating housing needs in rural western Alabama. Rural Studio is most widely known for its long-running 20K Initiative, through which a student team builds a single small affordable house each year. Recently, the Studio’s Front Porch Initiative has sought to turn the knowledge created during its past projects into housing solutions that can be applied at a much larger scale. By partnering with developers and financial institutions, Rural Studio is developing novel approaches to housing production and financing to increase housing and economic stability across the rural South.

Visit HUD User's Case Studies page to learn more about affordable housing and to view other promising examples of how communities across the nation are raising the bar on sustainable community development.