I have been working in rural Economic Development for over fifteen years. The longer that I have been around, the more that I realize how the lack of affordable housing and day care affect the success (or lack there of) of rural areas. When the opportunity arose for the communities that we serve to have
America is facing a housing crisis, primarily in our rural regions. This crisis, in part, can be attributed to two main issues, affordability and sustainability. Americans are overburdened by overwhelming costs of housing. The majority of the houses in rural towns were built before 1929. North Central Kansas and Northwest Kansas need new, affordable homes,
Our Rural Architecture Lead, Harley Schuster, came to us with a master’s degree in Architecture from Kansas State University. She participated in the Net Positive Studio which studied, designed, planned, and built rural housing in St. John and Ogden, Kansas. Through this work, her studio won the prestigious Kremer Prize, which is awarded for outstanding
Serving as Coordinator on Kansas Health Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) grants over the last five years, Jenny Russell specifically worked in community placemaking for BCBS efforts and in health equity for the KS Health Foundation. She worked in placemaking for additional years, as Jenny has served in rural economic development for over
Rural architecture and housing is a difficult and multifaceted problem that doesn’t operate on the same financial models as urban housing. Through our analysis, we have learned that for rural housing to be successful, wages will have to increase in the region so that people can afford to pay for newer homes or rural housing
Echelon Architecture – Our newest board member, Alex has recently moved back to Kansas from her architecture position in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has seen the rural housing crisis firsthand, having dealt with it in her move back to the State. Alex was also part of the NetPositive Design Studio at Kansas State University
Good architecture has value. Rural areas demonstrate that despite sometimes limited exposure to architecturally designed buildings, the communities are architecturally literate, they decipher and understand architectural cues. Much like urban areas, rural communities also appreciate the benefits and values that architecturally designed buildings can provide. A sense of rural architecture, one of quality built design