This session will present the findings from ULI Terwilliger Center's 2024 Home Attainability Index. The Index is a data-rich resource for understanding the extent to which a housing market is providing a range of choices attainable to the regional workforce. The data can help identify gaps in home attainability and provide better context to understand residential markets; provide context by connecting housing costs to the wages earned by people with specific occupations in a region; and enable national and regional comparisons to inform housing production, policy, and financing decisions. The session will begin with Adam Ducker, CEO of RCLCO, presenting the national findings before drilling down to the local findings for each panelist. Ducker will then have panelists answer how they are addressing the particular housing needs in their market. Through this session, attendees will learn how the data can help decision-making for local economies: e.g., what type of housing is needed, and at what price point; who exactly is priced out; and how it is affecting the ability for employers to attract and retain workers.

Current challenges to America's office sector need not spell the death of the American city. In fact, urban office buildings and their surrounding downtowns have a distinct advantage over suburban or nonurban developments. Data suggest that while American office workers prefer the flexibility of work-from-home or hybrid work arrangements, they are still flocking to cities to recreate. This change began even before COVID, as miles of waterfront from Pittsburgh to New York were rejuvenated and activated with retail, restaurant, park, and residential uses. These well-programmed, lifestyle-focused urban developments have proven to be attractive alternatives to an increasingly online world and magnets for investment and urban innovation. The office sector's headwinds are an opportunity to rethink America's downtowns by transforming single-use, commuter-focused blocks of office buildings into places where people want to spend their leisure time—replacing central business districts with central social districts. By thinking of our downtowns as homes for social activity, we can expand the realm of what's possible and fill city centers with activity, life, and commerce.