Why boardinghouses could make a comeback
From The Indicator from Planet Money by NPR
June 2, 2026 · 9 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the potential revival of boardinghouses in the U.S. as a solution to the housing crisis and explores their historical decline.
There is a burgeoning effort across the U.S. to revive boardinghouses, aka single room occupancy units or SROs, as a solution to the housing crisis. But what happened to them in the first place? We track the disappearance of the first rung of the housing ladder. Fact-checking by Vito Emanuel. Your Next Listen — How to build abundantly Connect with The Indicator — Sign up for The Indicator’s brand new newsletter — Find our socials, YouTube and more ! — For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
People in this episode
Host: The Indicator
Topics covered
- boardinghouses
- housing crisis
- single room occupancy
- urban development
- housing solutions
Keywords
- boardinghouses
- housing crisis
- SROs
- urban housing
- affordable housing
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: NPR
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