The housing shortage is real in several communities around the region.
Vacancy rates are low, so rents are high, and it can take a long time for people to find suitable housing. Community leaders are aware of the issue and working to address it.
One approach: build up the middle of the housing market, the multiple-family homes that are not full-blown apartment complexes. Urbanist Daniel Parolek calls this the "missing middle."
We talk housing needs and the economy on a wider scale with Dan Parolek, Guy Tauer of the Oregon Employment Department and Connie Saldaña, an advocate for the homeless for Rogue Valley Council of Governments. They will discuss the same issues at a community forum in Medford on April 13th.