The scale of the affordable housing crisis the nation faces is well known, and its importance has not been lost on real estate developers and planners. But for many eager to enter the market, one of the main challenges they face is not financing or the nuts and bolts of the construction process but how to win community support for their projects.

Of developers and planners, two-thirds in a July survey stated that their most active projects in the next six months will be building affordable and supportive housing. The survey was conducted by coUrbanize, a company that uses AI-generated data reports to facilitate online engagement.

Although 94% of respondents attempted to gain community input and support through public meetings, many were frustrated by low attendance; few thought the process was productive. "We don't seem to be connecting with people the way they want," one respondent lamented. Some 60% named lack of staff time as their greatest barrier to engagement.