Squeezed Out - Mapping Dimensions of Raleigh’s Housing Crisis

Across the US, we are witnessing a housing crisis catalyzed by a pandemic-related housing shortage and exaggerated by income inequality, resulting in a disproportionate burden on the poor and non-homeowners. According to a 2022 article for The Atlantic, journalist Derek Thompson argues that “in 15 years, we’ve had a historic housing crash, a historic housing crunch, a historic pandemic-fueled buying spree, and a historic mortgage-rate spiral.” While many can agree to the primary solution—to build more housing—the priorities for the best way to do this are debated. In small and large cities around the country, the tensions between the desires of the developer, the needs of the citizen and community, and the goals of politicians and policy makers are often at odds. This is especially true in cities like Raleigh, NC , which has shown unprecedented growth over the past 10 years.

These visual essays employ practices of critical cartography to better understand the many complex factors that have contributed to the current state of housing in Raleigh, the Triangle, North Carolina, and the U.S. A primary aim for this research is to ultimately create more equitable, effective, and innovative design and planning approaches to the future of housing and urban development writ large. Towards supporting synthetic understanding of the factors hindering equal housing opportunity, this research examines historic and contemporary data specific to Raleigh, NC, with the aim of offering key insights for other cities across the country.