Housing Affordability Starts With Jobs—Not Just Zoning

In this episode, we tackle housing affordability through a different lens: employment.

New master-planned cities promise mixed-income neighborhoods, smarter zoning, walkable design, and built-in transit. But even the most thoughtfully designed community collapses without one essential ingredient—jobs. Employers must anchor growth, or affordability becomes a short-lived illusion.

We examine a more immediate and scalable solution: revitalizing existing small and rural towns. Mid-skill industries, expanded broadband, modular and infill housing, and zoning reforms that bring people closer to work and essential services can move the needle faster than building from scratch.

Technology can accelerate construction, improve planning, and connect workers to opportunity. But without economic strategy aligned to local labor markets, innovation alone won’t solve the affordability crisis.

Because in housing, as in mobility, value follows access—and access starts with work.