In Shared Housing as a Missing Middle Solution for Rural Communities, Alison Lintal (Penn State Dickinson School of Law) discusses the benefits of shared housing arrangements as a potential solution to the housing crisis for rural communities facing shifting demographics. This article presents the history of shared housing in rural spaces while also addressing the legal and social obstacles to future implementation. Lintal also delves into the challenges of developing shared housing due to “arcane” zoning and regulatory restrictions. The author employs a holistic approach to address the proposed benefits, challenges, and necessity of implementing shared housing programs.

In The Rural Housing Crisis: Analytical Dimensions and Emblematic Issues, Stefan Kordel (Geography, Friedrich Alexander University, Germany) and Matthias Naumann (Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development, Germany) argue that while much attention has been paid to the housing crisis in urban regions, the crisis of sustainable housing availability in rural settings is both relevant to wider debates in housing studies and crucial for successful political action to address the need for just and inclusive housing.

This digest summarizes recent research evaluating why mobile homes are prevelant in some communities but not other. Economic precarity is the most significant factor, but other influences also exist, including year-round temperatures, labor force participation, unemployment, and employment in natural resource industries.