Housing Quality: Challenges, Proposals & Recommendations for Bettering Multifamily Housing Properties & Communities in Rural Areas

Everyone should have a safe, stable home—a foundation for health, well-being, and opportunity. Yet, many rural residents living in remote areas such as Northeastern Minnesota face significant challenges in accessing healthy housing that meets their needs. These challenges—as in rural areas throughout the country—are exacerbated by the changing climate. This region’s vulnerability to increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events, such as extreme cold, heavy snowfall, and intense storms, intensifies the existing problems of aging infrastructure and substandard housing. This report aims to explore issues unique to regions such as this on residents’ health, mental health, and overall quality of life, and to identify community-driven solutions and recommendations to improve housing quality and resilience.