The National Building Museum in Washington, DC, is sponsoring two exhibits raising awareness of evictions and our country’s housing needs and development trends. Making Room: Housing for a Changing America explores the history of housing needs and development in America, chronicling post-World War II suburbanization and subsequent shifts in demographics and lifestyle that have affected our housing needs and desires. The exhibit, which will remain open until September 16, illustrates how housing entrepreneurs are developing new models and design solutions that offer alternatives at all levels of the housing market, from micro-units, tiny houses, and accessory apartments, to cohousing, co-living, and beyond.
The museum’s Evicted exhibit is designed to explore the causes and impacts of eviction. Based on Matthew Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Evicted, the exhibit offers an immersive experience in the world of low-income renter eviction through images, audio interviews, and statistics. This exhibit is open until May 19.
Desmond and the Eviction Lab at Princeton University recently released a nationwide database to help the public understand eviction policy and information. Users can research community eviction rates and create custom maps, charts, and reports.
The database appears to be informing, if not inspiring, related articles in local newspapers, like this one in the Philadelphia Inquirer. With auspicious timing, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority will feature Desmond as the keynote speaker at its Annual Conference on August 21.
Oklahoma Coalition for Affordable Housing 