icon Blueprint for September

Solving Problems

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3 min read

“We always hope for the easy fix: the one simple change that will erase a problem in a stroke. But few things in life work this way. Instead, success requires making a hundred small steps go right—one after the other,  no slipups, no goofs, everyone pitching in.”

 — Atul Gawande, Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance

We may call it work, but for many of you it is really daily problem solving. Imagine sticking your head into the room where your spouse or partner is still in bed in the morning and announcing, “Off to solve problems. See you tonight.” Too cocky? Perhaps.

From tax credits to the RAD program to solar energy to YouthBuild, this industry sees a steady stream of innovative attempts at problem solving. This month’s issue is filled with some current attempts:

Problem: Construction costs
“As a developer, I know we’ve been frustrated by our ability to do middle-income housing when we’re competing for prime sites, prime neighborhoods and viable urban locations with developers who want to build luxury housing, and the numbers don’t work,” says Larry Curtis of Winn Companies. Along with his son Jared and talented Spanish architects, Curtis has formed World Homes (WoHo), one of a group of innovators looking to modular as a solution. “This is a serious effort and serious financial commitment to try to meaningfully address better ways to build middle-income housing,” Curtis continues. “We either have to rely on substantial government subsidies or deliver product at a lower cost, but not lower quality.” (Modular Makes Its Mark)

Problem: Clarifying Opportunity Zones
The interest in Opportunity Zones appears to be intense, and so this month we introduce a new regular feature, The Land of OZ. In our kickoff article, Forrest Milder of Nixon Peabody writes, “Unfortunately, it is hard to provide something with greater specifics because the rules are both a mix of imperfectly defined technical terms and imprecise and inaccurate statute writing that make it hard to have greater confidence in how the rules will work.” To at least pose the unanswered questions, Milder and colleagues sat down with officials at the Department of Treasury.

Problem: Homelessness
There are problems we may not be able to solve as a nation, in areas of health for example. Others, such as homelessness, depend solely on political will. While we await that, there are admirable people and companies around the country tackling the issue by pulling their communities together to provide support.

In Jacksonville, FL, Sulzbacher Village is providing permanent homes for homeless women and children. (A Permanent Solution for Homelessness)

In Minneapolis, Dominium, one of the largest developers in the country, has admirably formed a Pro Bono division to support development by not-for-profits. (Bringing Out Better Angels)

Problem: Workforce Housing
And finally, in Washington, DC, a city rife with rampant gentrification, the Federal City Council and JBG Smith have combined on the Washington Housing Initiative to preserve affordable housing. (Stopping Gentrification Before It Starts)

We hope these solutions will help you find ways to solve your problems, while I sign off to address the problems of our next issue.

Marty Bell, Editor