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States and cities decimated SROs, Americans' lowest-cost housing option
Low-cost micro-units, often called single-room occupancies, or SROs, were once a reliable form of housing for the United States’ poorest residents of, and newcomers to, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and many other major U.S. cities.
In October 2024, February 2025, and April 2025, The Pew Charitable Trusts and Gensler, a global architecture, design, and planning firm, released three reports that described how vacant office space in large cities could be converted into low-cost micro-units with shared bathrooms and kitchens—essentially a safe, clean, code-compliant, well-located version of SROs. If more states and cities reduce regulatory barriers to this type of housing—and ideally provide incentives to kick-start its development—the nation has a real opportunity to once again make homelessness rare and ensure that the most financially vulnerable Americans, such as those earning minimum wage or receiving Social Security benefits, can afford a place to live. The team thanks Pew colleagues Demetra Aposporos, Esther Berg, Laurie Boeder, Frank Clancy, Jennifer V. Doctors, Gabriela Domenzain, Chelsie Pennello, and Allie Tripp for providing important communications, creative, editorial, and research support for this work.
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