Climate change and the urban heat islands take their toll from Phoenix to Portland.
Housing
Posted inJuly 1, 2023: Waiting for Water
As Newtok, Alaska, crumbles, residents are left in a dangerous limbo
The town is supposed to move, but federal funding and complex logistics mean most residents are stuck.
Posted inArticles
Western resort towns risk being ‘loved to death’
A new report details the downsides of tourism and population booms – and what communities can do about it.
Posted inAugust 1, 2023: In the Line of Fire
Can Denver live up to its reputation of being a ‘sanctuary city’?
The city’s response to migrant ‘surges’ endangers both newcomers and its long-standing unhoused population.
Posted inArticles
After the feds accidentally burned down their homes, they made it hard to return
FEMA told survivors of the largest wildfire in New Mexico history that it aimed to put temporary housing on their land. But because of its strict, slow-moving bureaucracy, that has happened only twice.
Posted inJune 1, 2023: Seen and Unseen
The fight to keep Ohtani basketball alive
Increasing housing costs and the pandemic threaten an important tradition in the Japanese American community.
Posted inArticles
Can net-zero homes really be affordable?
A Colorado nonprofit is constructing its second affordable housing complex with an eye toward mass production.
Posted inArticles
Bighorn-lovers butt heads with Vail Resorts’ affordable housing
The ski industry giant wants to build workforce housing in wild sheep habitat.
Posted inArticles
How a volunteer trash pickup club tackles housing and climate justice
LA’s Echo Park Trash Club supports its unhoused neighbors by helping them stay in place.
Posted inArticles
The West’s hottest county is also its most Latino
Some places in Imperial County, California, experienced 117 days above 100 degrees this year.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
Why the country’s largest shellfish farm is struggling to hire and retain workers
And how it’s dealing with climate change and housing costs to make back-breaking work a little easier.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
‘Estás viviendo en una lata’
En Arizona, los residentes de casas rodantes son más propensos a morir de calor excesivo.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
‘You’re living in a tin can’
Arizona’s mobile-home residents are far more likely to die from excessive heat.
Posted inArticles
When a housing crisis meets a megaflood
June’s massive Yellowstone-area floods illuminated and worsened housing inequities across southwestern Montana.
Posted inArticles
A new podcast explores the Almeda Drive Fire’s aftermath
Isabella Ruikis’ ‘movement journalism’ explores Oregon’s most destructive wildfire and finds hope for the future in community-based action.
Posted inArticles
Record rainfall, bears and French toast at Anchorage’s new city-sanctioned homeless encampment
A network of mutual aid organizers provides meals and supplies for people experiencing homelessness.
Posted inAugust 1, 2022: Our Fiery Future
How to rebuild in a time of endless fire
Okanogan County, Washington, had hardly recovered from the last devastating wildfire when the next one struck.
Posted inArticles
Washington’s largest homeless encampment faces an uncertain future
With the state planning to spend $24 million on relocation, residents of Camp Hope aspire to self determination and continued community.
Posted inArticles
How growing Western rec towns might hold onto their futures
Researchers look to give small tourism communities the tools for a GNARly approach.
Posted inArticles
Where anti-LGBTQ+ politics intersect with housing the homeless
A new report shows Southern Oregon’s largest homeless shelter is led by a conversion-therapy proponent.