From tents to tiny houses, advocates get creative to address Nevada's affordable housing shortage

Amid a global pandemic and an unforgiving job market that's contributing to an impending eviction crisis, and as politicians in Reno and Las Vegas grapple with ways to address homelessness in the long term, individuals and nonprofits are developing creative solutions to address an affordable housing crunch.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as housing that costs no more than 30 percent of a person or household's income. That’s hard to come by for people in the lowest income brackets.

In Reno, there are only 41 affordable housing units for every 100 renter households earning between 31 and 50 percent of the median income. For every 100 renters making 30 percent or less of the area’s median income, there are only 27 affordable units available, according to an analysis of Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) data from 2010-2014.

There were also more than 7,000 people experiencing homelessness in Nevada as of January 2019 — an estimate that officials believe is an undercount.

Read more: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/advocates-and-nonprofits-work-to-address-nevadas-affordable-housing-shortage