Innovations - Critical Information Infrastructure Modernization

Remote Work and Housing Challenge – 2021

In response to the COVID 19 global pandemic, remote work became common and more broadly accepted. This affected many historical assumptions about workforce participation, where people live, and how they interact with others nearby and far away. Some areas of interest include real estate purchase locations, local versus remote taxation, the physical needs of towns and cities, weakening distinctions between rural and urban lifestyles, and businesses that now operate without offices. These changes further affect community planning, economics, and government because education, healthcare, and other services can also be delivered remotely. Society may partly return to the way things were before the pandemic or undergo major changes because of what remote work allows. In 2021, HUD worked with the Census Bureau’s The Opportunity Project (TOP) to guide private businesses in the creation of custom data tools. This resulted in products from major technology and housing specialty firms (e.g., Amazon Web Services, Google, ApartmentList.com, CARTO, and more), the development of relationships with national and local housing experts (e.g., HomeInnovation of the National Association of Home Builders, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, etc.), and substantial progress in preparing for related projects and societal changes.