The Transformation in American Communities
The landscape of American communities is evolving as people living in cities and towns from coastal hubs to the heartland of America are redefining the fabric of their communities. Sustainability, safety, environmental stewardship, and access to goods and usable amenities are driving local leaders to rethink how they create vibrant, diverse communities.
To meet this need, local economies are diversifying by attracting business sectors outside of the traditional economic drivers. Local and regional businesses are becoming more involved in the communities where their customers live and work. Technology is driving civic engagement at the local level.
However, there remains a fundamental disconnect that hinders these efforts: homes.
Challenges to Housing Innovation
In the past thirty years, people have reimagined so much of what we can accomplish – and how we can accomplish it. And yet housing has remained stalwartly stagnant – locked out of the sphere of innovation – becoming more and more costly.
Traditional building methods create construction waste and homes are not affordable to working families. Luxury apartments and condominiums are built in areas which once provided homes that working families could afford to rent or buy. Much of our older housing stock needs repair, and lacks the accessibility features for a rapidly aging population.
Somewhere in the middle fall hard working American families with fading dreams of owning a home. How can they be expected to benefit from this revitalization of our communities if they can’t find homes that are affordable, sustainable and safe?
We can do better for them.
Re-imagining What’s Possible with Factory-Built
In 2018, Next Step and our partners recommitted to increasing access to homes that are affordable to working families in all communities. For too long we have languished, defending factory-built housing from its own past. It’s time to embrace pre-built homes as the homes of the future.
The pre-built homes of today are highly energy-efficient, constructed with care and quality by skilled professionals, and made in America. Our manufacturing partners are true innovators in housing, building homes at half of the development cost of site-built, and with much less construction materials waste.
We’re building the coalitions that will make this vision possible. Never before has there been a group of thought leaders assembled to ensure that those who want to buy a pre-built home have access to counseling and educational resources, fair and equitable financing options, and energy-efficient, comfortable and safe homes.
Next Step is proud to be at the forefront of this movement. As you read through this report, we challenge you to take the next step with us. Reimagine what is possible in your community and all our communities and weave a vision where hardworking individuals and families can finally afford their own home.
Read Next Step Network’s 2018 Annual Report on our website here.