How 3D Printing Could Fix the Housing Crisis

A growing number of people have no home to call their own. As home prices rise in cities from coast to coast — in massive metros like Los Angeles to New York and once-affordable cities in the Midwest like Boise and Grand Rapids — young couples are downsizing the American dream. Among advocates and policymakers, there's a growing consensus that housing ought to come first in the fight to end homelessness, but America's stock of affordable housing is dwindling, and many homeless people are left aging and catching “Medieval diseases” on our city streets. It might seem surprising, but technologies like 3D-printing could be a solution —keeping Americans off city streets, and solving the affordable housing crisis. But government regulations are getting in the way.