Housing affordability and availability continue to shape conversations about Janesville’s future — and for good reason.
Residents, employers and community leaders alike have identified housing as one of the region’s most pressing challenges. From rising home prices and rents to limited availability across single-family, two-family and multi-unit housing options, the impacts are being felt across the community.
To help foster dialogue and build a shared understanding around these issues, Forward Janesville hosted its second CivicCon event on May 7: The Affordable City, featuring housing policy expert and author Shane Phillips.
Held at the Janesville Performing Arts Center, the event brought community members together for an engaging conversation about housing supply, affordability, policy, and the long-term choices communities face as they grow.
A Conversation About Housing—and Community Growth
Phillips, author of The Affordable City: Strategies for Putting Housing Within Reach (And Keeping it There) and Housing Initiative Project Manager at UCLA’s Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, shared a national perspective on housing challenges that increasingly affect communities of all sizes, including Janesville.
Throughout the presentation, Phillips emphasized an “all-of-the-above” approach to housing policy built around three interconnected concepts:
- Supply: Increasing the number and variety of housing units
- Stability: Protecting homeowners and renters from displacement
- Subsidy: Providing targeted support for those who struggle to afford housing
The discussion reinforced that housing affordability is not driven by a single issue, and that meaningful solutions require a balanced, comprehensive approach.
Watch the Full Presentation
If you were unable to attend—or would like to revisit the conversation—you can watch the full recording of The Affordable City below.
We appreciate everyone who attended and contributed to the discussion, and we look forward to continuing the CivicCon conversation in the future.
Key Takeaways from the Event
Balance Matters
Phillips compared housing policy to a three-legged stool: supply, stability and subsidy all need to work together. Focusing too heavily on one area while neglecting the others can create unintended consequences and limit long-term effectiveness.
Housing Supply Plays a Critical Role
One of the event’s central themes was the importance of increasing housing supply. When communities fail to build enough housing to meet demand, prices rise, affordability declines, and displacement pressures increase.
Phillips explained that adding housing — even market-rate housing — can help ease pressure across the system by creating vacancies and slowing rent and price growth over time.
Communities Face Consequences When They Don’t Act
Drawing on examples from Los Angeles and other cities, Phillips cautioned that communities that resist housing growth or maintain outdated development patterns risk worsening affordability challenges in the future.
For Janesville, the conversation connected closely to ongoing discussions around housing development, zoning modernization, and long-term community competitiveness.
Why CivicCon Matters
CivicCon was created by Forward Janesville to provide a public venue for meaningful community dialogue around issues that impact the future of our region.
While CivicCon speakers do not necessarily represent the views of Forward Janesville, their expertise helps inform community understanding and encourages more productive conversations around complex topics.
By bringing together residents, businesses, civic leaders and outside experts, CivicCon aims to create space for learning, discussion, and shared problem-solving.