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M R EP O RT | 45 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST DATA American Affordable Housing Crisis, European Solutions Solutions to America's ongoing housing inventory crunch might just be found where we least expect it—across the Atlantic Ocean. C ommentary from Share- able said America should look across the world and how other govern- ments have found solutions to housing shortages and affordabil- ity challenges. "But, elsewhere in the world, governments have found solu- tions rooted in very different philosophies on how societies should build, finance, distrib- ute, and maintain housing," the report states. "A few have even succeeded in avoiding the social and racial segregation plaguing many American cities through policies intended to build diverse, cohesive communities." The report states that in Austria, with the use of federal spending, the government has developed an expansive housing stock, and 60% of Vienna's citizens now live in subsidized homes. Austrian governments also reg- ulate rents and household spend an average of 21% of their income on housing. In comparison, the average American family spends 37% of housing every month, and the figure rises to 60% in New York City. They (the state) do it because they want balance in the commu- nity—that's part of their aim," says William Menking, a professor at the Pratt Institute and co-author of a book about the city's housing model. The study states that, unlike in Eurpean markets, governments in the U.S. use land use as a way to control housing. "Instead of expanding access to housing, American cities have exercised that control to imple- ment policies that perpetuate segregation, deep inequalities, and sprawl," the Shareable report stated. Markets in Oregon, Minnesota, North Carolina, and California have all recently taken measures to remove single-family housing.