Pennsylvania needs more homes
of all shapes & sizes,
for all of our neighbors.
Working Pennsylvanians cannot find housing options that meet their needs & their budgets. There is a better way.
The Pennsylvania Housing Choices Coalition is a statewide coalition of community groups and leaders coming together to support bipartisan statewide legislation that will allow more housing choices, making our cities and towns more affordable, for all Pennsylvanians.
Working Pennsylvanians need more housing choices.
Pennsylvania is facing a severe shortage of housing all across the Commonwealth that is harming our economy and the livelihood of our communities.
According to the 2024 ‘Housing Underproduction’ report from Up for Growth, Pennsylvania has a housing shortage of around 105,000 homes. Not having enough homes to rent or buy creates cutthroat competition, and drives up prices.
Our housing shortage persists in large part because of exclusionary zoning and land use rules designed to prevent the home types people want and need from being built, and the construction of less expensive housing types like duplexes, townhomes, and apartments.
Triplexes like this one in Philadelphia are more naturally affordable but banned in cities & neighborhoods across the Commonwealth.
Pennsylvania has a choice:
Unaffordable sprawl or starter homes near jobs?
Once attainable suburbs have become too expensive for families, with unaffordably large houses and long commutes.
In too many cities across the Commonwealth, young families can’t find a home close to their parents and grandparents, young adults can’t move out of their parents’ homes, and the shortage of housing close to job centers results in longer commutes, wasted personal time, and more unnecessary pollution.
We can expand the number of starter homes by allowing houses to be built and sold on more modest plots of land, and re-legalizing more home options like townhomes and fourplexes.
Housing options like townhomes or duplexes can be starter homes for young families and workers.
Pennsylvania seniors should have the freedom to age in place or downsize.
With few age-friendly housing options available, many seniors are stuck in housing that doesn’t meet changing needs.
In too many cities across the Commonwealth, zoning that bans or severely restricts smaller, age-friendly homes means seniors can’t find quality housing that meets their needs to age in place in their communities, and empty-nesters can’t downsize from larger family homes.
We can extend seniors the freedom they have earned to choose to age in place or downsize by legalizing backyard cottages, and expanding housing options near jobs and amenities like health care providers.
Backyard cottages can allow seniors the ability to age in place.
Pennsylvania can replace gridlock traffic with walkable neighborhoods.
Pennsylvania traffic keeps getting worse, with commutes across the Commonwealth now taking an hour round-trip.
By preventing smaller homes and different home types, today’s local zoning laws pushing new housing further and further away from job centers. This means Pennsylvanians spend ever-more time in traffic, cutting into quality time with their children and families.
The Pennsylvania Legislature should ensure that every large and midsized city allows homes in every commercial area, so more Pennsylvanians can have a short commute to work, while reducing traffic for everybody else. Allowing homes above shops and ground floor retail helps create the walkable neighborhoods so many want to live in today.
Allowing more homes in commercial areas will give more Pennsylvanians the opportunity to walk, bike, or take transit to work.
Housing markets are regional, so no one city can solve this problem alone.
Despite widespread knowledge of these common policy barriers to more attainable housing, little action has been taken to challenge them outside of a handful of municipal jurisdictions with exceptionally motivated and courageous policymakers.
With over 2,500 municipal governments operating throughout Pennsylvania – each of whose decisions impact municipalities nearby – winning majorities for change town-by-town is not a viable solution to the housing shortage, which is why our campaign is seeking to pass statewide zoning standards to set a new floor for allowing more home types.
We are community organizations, affordable housing providers, and city leaders who believe Pennsylvania can become affordable again.
To join the Pennsylvania Housing Choices Coalition, learn more about state zoning standards, or just stay in touch, email coalition@10000friends.org.