Brick by Brick – Podcast
For those who prefer their solutions journalism in audio format, join the Brick by Brick team by searching for the podcast wherever you listen. In season three, we’ll be releasing audio versions of the broadcast episodes, along with extended interviews and extras along the way. Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or listen below, and go deeper with our articles and resources online.
Season 3
- As Americans age they want to stay in their own home. Can they do it?
By the mid-2030s more people will be 65 and older than under 18. That is putting additional pressure on the housing and rental markets because there aren’t enough affordable homes and apartments to let older adults age in place. What steps can society, developers and residents take to ensure seniors can live where they want to live? - This accelerator is designed to move
Beltways, a Northern Kentucky start-up, will announce a pilot this fall with a major airport for its accelerating walkway technology. The accelerator is twice as fast (2.5 mph) as the one passengers are used to. It has been rated for a top speed of 5 mph. Sometime in the future the founders envision this walkway outside, connecting neighborhoods. - From Cradle to Career; Promise Neighborhoods seek to uplift communities
Every neighborhood should have “access to great schools, and strong family and community support systems” that will prepare kids for college and a career. That’s the vision of the Department of Education which funds nearly 50 so-called “Promise Neighborhoods.” - Cincinnati is adding 1,500-2,000 housing units a year. It needs nearly ten times that many. How do we build more?
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval told an audience of educators, students, policy makers and nonprofits Thursday, the city, “must turbocharge development.” Pureval and others who spoke at The Affordable Housing Crisis Symposium, sponsored by Xavier University, know there is an urgent need. - PWC says new building increases its capacity to serve
It’s only fitting that the Greater Cincinnati home repair nonprofit People Working Cooperatively (PWC) used an electric saw to cut the ribbon on its new $12 million Sharonville headquarters Monday. - Homework assumes you have a home. An increasing number of students don’t
Homelessness among students nationwide continues to increase by double digits, putting them at greater risk of dropping out, and suffering from physical, social and emotional health issues. School districts are recognizing the problem and stepping in with possible solutions. - Neighborhoods as Systems: Free Toolkit Helps Communities Create Lasting Change
The Neighborhood as Systems Toolkit, created after years of research by teams at Cincinnati Children’s and Design Impact, empowers residents to catalyze solutions for a thriving community. And it’s Free!
Season 2
- Designing the future of downtown Cincinnati
Cincinnati city leaders have announced plans to create a roadmap for the further development of downtown, where according to Mayor Aftab Pureval, stakeholders can help design a “growth in housing, a growth in jobs, and a growth in tourism.” - Winton Hills grocery pilot gives residents hope for the future
Less than a year after a grocery pilot program began in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Winton Hills, participants are reporting better health, reduced hunger and a greater hope for the future. The City of Cincinnati partnered with Kroger to provide $100 a month of delivered groceries to 136 eligible households for twelve months. The grocery money is used in conjunction with SNAP or WIC benefits […] - Cincinnati tool to help renters find housing shows promise
A Cincinnati sponsored website aids renters as they look for new housing. City Wise Software has partnered with the city to find, show and rate listings that people might not otherwise come across on traditional platforms. The company promoted the resource at a Washington Park housing fair on June 27. The goal of apartments.cincinnati-oh.gov, according to City Wise COO Jeremy Schmidt, is to “build a […] - Pedestrian safety, expanded senior meals and a new air quality program among season 2 solutions
Brick by Brick discovered dozens of solutions in Season 2, that are working to solve a variety of problems. None of the issues are easy and the ideas to solve them aren’t quick, but it appears they are slowly making a difference. Take for example attention to detail Cincinnati engineers used to create the perfect speed hump. After many iterations, the city has data showing the traffic calming devices are slowing drivers down. Meals […] - Tree donor recognizes the importance of reforestation in Cincinnati; Dayton begins its master plan
Cincinnati Parks will soon begin the largest reforestation effort in a city park in nearly 100 years following a $1.8 million dollar donation by an anonymous Amberley Village resident. What’s involved is the removal of invasive honeysuckle and the planting of trees in the 281-acre French Park, owned by the city, but located in Amberley Village. The Cincinnati Parks Foundation hopes this model can work in other city parks where the tree […] - More people are facing energy insecurity. How do we help them?
New government figures find that even before the Iran war, one in three households faced some form of energy insecurity. Not only did people have trouble paying their heating and cooling bills but a separate study found the problem affected their mental health. Advocates are trying to bring energy insecurity to light and help those in need. The definition The U.S. Energy Information Administration defines energy insecurity as the inability to […] - Imagining a Cincinnati with more housing, investment and community
A recent survey finds only half of Hamilton County residents consider themselves thriving. And for a variety of reasons, an increasing number are suffering. Community leaders want to turn this around and during a recent summit envisioned neighborhoods with more housing, investment and a greater sense of belonging. The problems During the 2026 Neighborhood Summit, held April 25 at UC, organizer Invest in Neighborhoods, asked people to envision the future. One reason Executive Director Elizabeth […] - Despite slow gains, Cradle Cincinnati continues to drill down on ways to decrease infant mortality
UPDATE: Cradle Cincinnati, Hamilton County Public Health and the Cincinnati Health Department announced at a news conference May 12, “After hitting an all-time low, the infant mortality rate for Black infants has more than doubled over the past two years. Data shows the rate went from 9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 to 21 in 2025. The majority are caused by pre-term birth […] - Montgomery County decides next steps after inaugural arts forum
For the individual, research shows that the arts can boost memory, decrease depression and foster creativity. For a community, it can improve the quality of life and benefit the economy. Despite finances drying up both nationally and locally, cities and counties are figuring out how to ramp up the arts because they see the benefits are increasingly worth it. Arts for All The sold-out Montgomery County “Arts for All” inaugural arts forum on April 13, “brought together a diverse group of attendees to explore how […] - With rising electric bills Ohioans weigh the cost of solar farms
The Ohio Supreme Court is set to decide the fate of a handful of solar farm projects. This, as the state already leads the nation in the number of projects rejected while facing a need for affordable electricity. Cincinnati is seeing success with its solar farm, originally the largest among municipalities, but plenty of others are putting on the brakes, not wanting to give up fertile farmland. What is a solar farm and how much electricity does it […] - For Dayton’s County Corp, creating generational wealth is the foundation
Dayton and Montgomery County, like so many other places in the U.S., continue to face a shortage of low-income housing. For nearly fifty years the private nonprofit development corporation County Corp, has been creating generational wealth by adding new housing and working to revitalize neighborhoods. How is the organization doing it and can it be replicated? What do the latest housing numbers show? The need for affordable housing is increasing. The 2026 Gap Report finds 73-percent of Ohio’s 422,000 extremely low-income renters spend over half their income on rent. That’s up […] - States are trying to unlock solutions for reentry housing
For people with criminal records, research shows stable housing reduces their likelihood of committing another crime. However, hundreds of state and federal laws create barriers for people who want to obtain affordable stable housing. Ohio and a handful of other states want to change that and are offering a kind of guarantee to landlords. Overcoming barriers Many of the estimated 93,000 people released from Ohio prisons and county and […] - Big ideas to solve homelessness aim to trump administration’s pivot
As the number of unsheltered people ticks up, state and local agencies are scrambling to find enough beds. They’re also having to navigate changing federal policies which threaten funding. Creativity is key and, in some places, it helps to solve homelessness. This includes the use of data analytics to keep people in their homes and state laws requiring developers to build affordable housing. Data Analytics During a January 23 roundtable at CET studios, President and CEO of Strategies to […] - Homes are filled with toxins. How do we improve their quality?
Modern day construction hasn’t solved the problem of toxic housing. On top of old school irritants like mold, lead and asbestos; new homes and apartments reportedly contain enough formaldehyde to cause significant lung damage over time. Efforts are underway to better educate the public about the dangers and help remove the toxins, including a large-scale effort to replace lead water pipes. New housing construction Environmental researcher and author of the new book Homesick, Nick Shapiro says, “Finding a home […] - Property taxes pricing some out of their homes. Some relief is coming; is there a better solution?
Property taxes date back to at least the 1600s, making up an average 70 percent of local government revenue. They pay for schools, police, fire, infrastructure and more. But as property values increase so do property taxes, pricing some people out of their homes. States are scrambling to offer relief. But is it enough and are there alternatives? Property taxes can be confusing. Ohio produced this video to […] - Neighborhood Solutions, a LIVE Community Conversation
Brick by Brick’s first in-person community conversation and Q&A event focused on Dayton neighborhood solutions, but the issues and lessons resonate for cities across the region. We turned it into a special podcast so that we can all learn from each other. - Nature and affordable housing can coexist
COVID reminded scientific researcher and author Nils Peterson that multigenerational living does work and people used to do it more often. He sees it as a way to control urban sprawl and preserve the nature we so desperately need. One way is by building accessory dwelling units or backyard cottages. Peterson is working with his community to do just that. Balancing housing and nature North […] - 2026 brings new homelessness directive; local agencies scrambling
Subsidized permanent housing is no longer a given for the chronically homeless. Instead, the government is directing more than $3 billion in funds to pay for transitional housing, addiction treatment and state outreach. Not everybody is on board, including the founder of the National Homelessness Law Center and author Maria Foscarinis. She has ideas on how the Housing First model could be resurrected and details […] - Foodbanks tested during gov’t shutdown; food rescue also important
Some foodbanks broke records for the amount of food they handed out during the government shutdown after SNAP benefits were suspended. And although the need has eased slightly, food insecurity remains an issue. By the latest data, thirteen percent of U.S. households are unable to acquire enough food. Foodbanks and food rescue organizations provide a safety net for our neighbors. Meals on Wheels helps seniors stay in their homes. How are […] - Medical deserts are plaguing Ohio; urban areas also feeling the pain
Millions of people live in a medical desert, meaning they have inadequate access to healthcare, both in urban and rural settings. There are a variety of reasons why, including distance to a hospital, lack of broadband internet, lack of transportation and a shortage of healthcare workers. Despite these challenges, there are solutions. Brick by Brick examines workforce training and school health partnerships. There are different kinds of medical deserts HealthTech Magazine says, “Areas without access to hospitals, […] - Ohio joins a long list of pro-housing policy states
At the current rate of construction, estimates predict it will take seven years to close the housing gap. The U.S. is still short about 4 million units. The problem is hitting home. After more than a decade of inflated home prices, states, including Ohio, are realizing they can enact policies to accelerate the building process. What are the hold-ups? Creating a variety of new housing […] - Residents nationwide are transforming their communities thanks to Cincinnati urban planners
Residents are increasingly taking charge of their neighborhoods. One example involves the conversion of an old chemical plant in West Louisville, Kentucky into affordable housing. Another is in Carmel, Indiana where neighborhood ambassadors are helping residents articulate a vision for the future. Cincinnati’s Yard & Co. is behind those efforts and more. The Neighborhood Playbook, written by Yard & Co., is almost a decade old, […] - Cincinnati and Dayton make streets safer by redesigning them and upping the speed humps
Pedestrian safety is deteriorating at a faster rate than road safety for other users, according to the World Health Organization. The agency has set a goal of decreasing deaths and injuries by 50 percent in five years. Speed humps and redesigned roads are among the top solutions and are gradually slowing people down. The problem According to 2023 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics, every 72 minutes a pedestrian dies in a traffic crash. That totals 7,314. […] - As electricity costs surge many see residential solar as a solution, despite federal changes
U.S. consumers spent on average $1,760 on electricity in 2023, second only to gasoline. And those residential electricity costs are expected to increase 13-18 percent by 2026. Why? Blame it on infrastructure changes needed for data centers. They supply computational power for AI and cryptocurrency and help drive up the cost as power companies pass them on to consumers. Some residents are hoping residential solar […] - Community markets and urban gardens are cultivating programs to feed the hungry
Nearly 50 million people in the U.S. don’t have enough food to eat and what they do have probably isn’t the most nutritious, leading to possible health problems later in life. Food banks and food rescue organizations are helping (we’ll cover those in another episode), but so are community markets and urban gardens. They’re working to fill the gap by providing fresh fruit and vegetables […]
Season 1
- Pennrose adds to the affordable development housing stock in Cincinnati
As part of our summer bonus episodes, we sat down with Geoff Milz from Pennrose Management Company about their developments in Cincinnati and their philosophy of working in partnership with a neighborhood for any project. Our conversation highlighted their most recent development, Thatcher Flats. Milz walks us through tough decisions that had to be made, the need for affordable housing, and development in general in the Walnut Hills neighborhood. - This developer has created hundreds of housing units. His favorite part is seeing the impact
State Ave. Lofts By the end of the year, low-income renters, some making as little as $47,000, will be able to move into apartments in two newly renovated Lower Price Hill historic buildings. Cincinnati and Hamilton County leaders are celebrating the addition of a dozen apartments on State Avenue along with nonprofit housing agencies who acknowledge the county is short 31,200 units for extremely low-income […] - A Season of Solutions
It was the spring of 2024 when Brick by Brick began reporting on solutions that could potentially increase the housing supply and make it more affordable. 32 episodes later we look back at how well some of those ideas are working, and what’s in store for season two. - Development guide for residents, Hyde Park fights developer at the ballot box
As the population continues to grow, the U.S. has failed to keep up with needed housing. Developers and cities see opportunities, but neighborhoods don’t always agree with the plan and want an avenue to block construction. What kind of an impact can everyday citizens have in their own backyard on housing and other types of development? Cincinnati’s Hyde Park To an outsider, a plan to […] - Housing is already hard to find. What if you have a record?
Every year hundreds of thousands of people are released from prison in the U.S., millions more leave local jails. The barriers they face to find housing are enormous. But some communities are working to expand access and increase the supply. How are they doing it? By the numbers Barriers to housing If family ties have been severed, somebody leaving jail may be on their own […] - Housing may be coming to a church near you
Religious organizations are some of the biggest landholders in the country and communities are increasingly looking to them to help solve the housing crisis. Some efforts are already underway but churches say they need zoning help to build on their property. Faith-based development can take many forms. Is it making a difference? How many churches are building and how many could be? The potential The […] - The banks’ role in creating affordable housing
It’s getting increasingly harder to find an affordable place to live. Sky- high rents, fluctuating mortgage rates, expensive home prices and a shortage of housing are all contributing factors. Every year there are incentives for banks to create affordable housing. How much are they doing and is it making a difference? Credit: Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University The numbers The Federal Home […] - Turning to technology to build more houses
If the U.S. builds as many homes as it did last year, experts predict it will take an average of seven and a half years to close the housing gap. How do we speed up construction? One way might be to increase the production of 3D printed houses. This technology is starting to take off in Texas and a few other states. Could it make […] - Zeroing in on gov’t land for possible housing
The U.S. is short four to seven million units of housing. Vacant land owned by the government may be able to help ease the gap. Most of it near urban areas and transit lines, is controlled by local governments. And with the help of the Center for Geospatial Solutions (CGS), communities are starting to realize they may have land to build more housing. In 2024 […] - Cincinnati introduces a tenants’ guide
The City of Cincinnati is taking additional steps to assist renters and prevent evictions. At a news conference Thursday, Councilmember Meeka Owens and others introduced a Tenants’ Guide with detailed information on rent and utility assistance, legal resources, rent escrow and more. It directs renters to United Way’s 211 Helpline if they need money to pay bills, Hamilton County’s Help Center for legal advice, the […] - Northern Kentucky’s Housing Solutions Menu
Responding to a study in 2023, Northern Kentucky is trying to increase their housing stock. Local leaders and non-profits collaborated to create a menu of options called Home for All: Northern Kentucky Housing Strategies. We look at some of the 50 solutions included and talk to stakeholders about the next steps. - Tiny homes are making a big impression
More than half of Americans say they would consider living in a tiny home, mostly defined as between 100 and 600 square feet. And the interest is growing, especially as traditional homes get more expensive. Additionally, many see tiny homes as a possible solution to homelessness and local efforts are underway to create villages of them. What is a tiny house anyway? The average size […] - Building affordable housing involves a competitive gov’t formula. Is there a better way?
The federal government gives developers the equivalent of $10 billion a year to build low-income housing in the form of a tax credit. Without this government subsidy, there may be a lot fewer affordable units. There are limitations, including the funding. Is there a better way to do it? The low-income housing shortage According to some estimates, there’s a national shortage of 7 million affordable […] - How “Gentlefication” is helping transform neighborhoods and fight gentrification
An effort to improve one man’s suburban Dallas neighborhood is now spreading across the country, even touching South Bend, Indiana. Incremental developer Monte Anderson coined the term “gentlefication,” valuing people and buildings as he envisions what an area could look like. He’s teaching other cities to do it. Some say it can’t come soon enough as gentrification becomes faster and more widespread. The Issue The National Community […] - Preservation key to saving affordable housing
The U.S. housing stock is old and getting older and its deterioration is causing health, safety and financial concerns. Saving it is cheaper and more sustainable than building new. But preservation is still expensive. How do we preserve housing before more low-cost rental units are lost? Cause for concern U.S. homes are an average of 41 years old. The newest public housing units are 50 […] - Can community land trusts help increase home ownership in Cincinnati and Dayton?
Over time, property is almost guaranteed to go up in value. That’s a problem if you have a limited income and want to buy a house. Unless the house is in a community land trust (CLT), which retains ownership of the land and restricts the price the home can be sold for (to remain affordable). CLTs are slowly gaining steam across the US and there […] - Despite roadblocks, people are creating thriving communities. How are they doing it?
Ask ten people what a thriving community looks like to them, and you will likely get ten different answers. But usually access to affordable housing and healthcare are top priorities. With 2025 approaching, Brick by Brick went searching for answers, talking to both adults and teens. The nonprofit organization Interact for Health reports on roadblocks and successes for Southwest Ohio. In Dayton plans are underway […] - Housing a priority for both Cincinnati and Dayton going into 2025
Thousands of people in Cincinnati and Dayton either can’t find a home they can afford or can’t afford the one they live in. Both cities are taking steps to address the housing crisis. What are they doing and is it enough? Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval says Cincinnati is “continuing to increase our commitments to….affordable housing.” In November’s State of the City address, He pointed to […] - Cincinnati and Dayton are adding more housing. Is it the right type?
Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky are getting bigger, expected to grow by more than a half-million people in the next twenty-five years, according to the State of the Region 2023 report. In the midst of this we face a crisis of unaffordability. The State of the Nation’s Housing 2024 report says home prices have reached an all-time high. Prices are 47-percent more than they were […] - The percentage of US modular and container homes is small. Could it have a bigger impact?
Modular construction, built inside a climate-controlled factory and then trucked to a site for assembly, has been slow to catch on in the U.S. It makes up less than 4-percent of the housing stock, compared to 15-percent in Japan and 45-percent in Scandinavia. Is it the answer to increase the housing supply? And what about other ideas like container homes? For clarification, a modular home […] - Large apartment buildings are aging. How to preserve them
Old buildings make up an increasing share of the U.S. rental stock. Experts say a healthy supply of these aging apartments help cities and neighborhoods thrive. But fixing them up takes money and political will. Atlanta Developer Marjy Stagmeier, who wrote the book Blighted, renovates rundown apartments and has a model she says others can follow. She urges cities to make it a priority to […] - Repurposing old buildings to house a sustainable future
Look around and you’ll see plenty of vacant buildings. Can they be turned into housing? Adaptive reuse, as it’s known, is on the rebound and estimates say ninety-percent of real estate development in the next decade will involve adaptive reuse, or repurposing buildings for something other than their intended use. Most cases involve offices or hotels but factories, warehouses, malls, and schools are also undergoing […] - Construction of large-scale apartment buildings is breaking records. Will Cincinnati and Dayton welcome the additional housing?
Cities that want to add hundreds of housing units at a time are embracing the addition of large-scale apartments. These big multifamily housing projects are on track to break national records this year and add an estimated 2-million units by 2028. But will the current economic climate allow the building boom to continue and do communities want large-scale apartments in their neighborhoods? Record-breaking construction For […] - How well do Housing Choice Vouchers work? HUD promises improvements amidst temporary freeze in Cincinnati and Dayton
Housing Choice Vouchers are portable subsidies that low-income families can use to lower their rents in the private market. But is this 50-year old solution to the housing crisis working as well as it should? The Department of Housing and Urban Development and local entities like the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority and Greater Dayton Premier Management, which receive the federal funds from HUD to issue […] - Author says Ohio should require cities to build more housing
When it comes to housing, author Shane Phillips says, you might see “a lot of development and think like, ‘wow, look at this housing boom.’” But if you actually look at the building permits over the past 60 years, it’s been a steady decline nationwide. In his book The Affordable City, Phillips, a biochemist turned urban planner, has 54 ideas to put housing within reach. During an […] - Greening up South Cumminsville, as more low-income communities look toward a sustainable future
Cincinnati neighborhoods are looking to South Cumminsville as an example of how they can become more sustainable, benefit from energy savings, and grow their communities. Eventually the neighborhood will have 25 new or rehabbed homes in its Near Net Zero Urban Village and 25 retrofits of homes owned by seniors. One new home is almost finished, and fifteen retrofits are complete. The non-profit organization behind […] - Cincinnati begins using data analytics to predict and prevent evictions
Keeping people in their homes could come down to a math problem. If area homeless prevention agencies got a heads up on who was at risk and what types of bills they were having difficulty paying, they could be proactive and help prevent an eviction before there was even an eviction notice. Cincinnati and other cities are trying it. Maidstone, England, says it has done […] - Montgomery County Land Bank prepares to spend $7M on affordable housing; others putting property to good use
Vacant and abandoned properties are not only major eye sores and financial drains on cities. They also accelerate the decline of neighborhoods. How can we make this land more productive? An increasing number of governments and non-profit organizations are turning to land banks as a partial solution. The Center for Community Progress says, “A land bank is a public entity with unique powers to put […] - How can we make housing more affordable when we can’t afford for housing prices to fall?
A recent report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, The State of The Nation’s Housing 2024, finds homeowners and renters are still “struggling with high housing costs.” Both housing prices and the number of renters with cost burdens have hit all-time highs. And the number of households paying more than 30-percent of their income on housing in Greater Cincinnati is 244,000. For Greater Dayton […] - Want to create more housing without changing the neighborhood? Build an ADU
As the nation grapples with a lack of housing, interest is building in a concept already popular on the West Coast and parts of New England-Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs. Think granny flat, carriage house, attic or basement apartment, tiny house, even a manufactured home on your property that has its own entrance, a kitchen with sink and stove, bathroom and a place to sleep […] - Cincinnati City Council passes zoning reforms, including reduced parking mandates
Vehicles spend most of their time parked. And because of that, for years cities have dictated how many parking spots developers should include based on sometimes arbitrary numbers. But do those numbers still make sense and could reducing them allow for more housing and development? An increasing number of cities are getting rid of those so-called parking mandates or parking minimums, including Cincinnati. Cincinnati changes […] - Dayton to pilot Right to Counsel, as evictions continue to increase throughout region
In most eviction hearings, only the landlord is represented. The tenant usually can’t afford an attorney or doesn’t have access to Legal Aid lawyers. But some communities are starting to realize that paying for attorneys to represent certain qualified renters can save money in the long run and give tenants a voice. State of local evictions Southwest Ohio is a hotbed for evictions. With rent […] - We are a segregated society. How do we improve Black homeownership and build wealth?
In The Color of Law, author and researcher Richard Rothstein painstakingly lays out the history of segregation. He says it didn’t happen by accident but instead was the result of racist governmental policies. Rothstein told Brick by Brick in an interview, “We would not have a segregated society today if the federal government and state and local governments hadn’t imposed unconstitutional policies to require segregation.” […] - Cincinnati wants to make zoning changes. How quickly can those changes result in more housing?
How quickly Cincinnati can house more people may depend on developers. Kaiker Development, in partnership with the Avondale Community Development Corporation, built seven townhomes on Hale Avenue in Avondale and has plans for fourteen more. - Developers are getting creative with empty office buildings. How many of them can be turned into housing?
Cincinnati and Dayton have more than a dozen projects involving office to housing conversions. - Is a Cincinnati response to out-of-town investors now a national model for preserving local affordable housing?
A Cincinnati entity is reclaiming local control of affordable housing from institutional investors. On Brick by Brick, how The Port’s model of creating equitable homeownership opportunities is progressing and inspiring other cities along the way.
