Metro launches series investigating Philadelphia’s affordable housing crisis

Everyone deserves a home. 

And yet, for too many Philadelphians, it is a constant struggle. There are 4,725 people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia, including more than 700 living on the streets. 

Over the next two years, Metro Philadelphia will be extensively reporting on the city’s affordable housing crisis, thanks to a Lenfest Sustainability Grant. The purpose of this project is to shed light on the current state of housing across Philadelphia, and ideally, offer solutions.

We want to inform and educate our readers on current resources available to house those in need, and also to help people navigate the complexities of renting or purchasing a home. We will include affordable housing listings, and also columns from local realtors, offering insight and advice. 

You can find the first articles of this series here, which outline what an affordable housing crisis is, and how many Philadelphians are currently affected by it. Future articles will explain what resources are available, and how state and federal funding can better support those programs. 

We will take a look at how many shelters are currently open within the city, and investigate their living conditions. There will be a heightened focus on outreach efforts aiding the city’s homeless population and advocates working to assist them.  

We want to hold Philadelphia landlords and lawmakers accountable and ensure the public is aware of their rights. Metro hopes to serve as a watchdog for developers and landowners to ensure they are complying with laws in place to protect residents. 

And above all, we want to offer solutions. 

We are calling this new project ‘Housing For All,’ because truly, the purpose of this endeavor is exactly that — to empower our neighbors to find a place to call home.