The places we call home are shaped by the policies and investments we choose to prioritize. As Richmond works to update its 50-year-old zoning ordinance through Code Refresh, Southside ReLeaf is asking a simple but important question: What kind of community are we trying to build?

To explore that question, we've invited partners working in housing affordability and community development to contribute to a three-part guest blog series on the relationship between housing and zoning in Richmond. In the final installment, the Partnership for Affordable Housing Policy Director Woody Rogers explores Richmond’s growing housing affordability crisis and its disproportionate impact on households historically excluded from homeownership and wealth-building. The blog examines why no single solution exists and why zoning reform is one critical piece of a broader approach to creating and preserving affordable housing, preventing displacement, and helping more families put down roots in Richmond.