Rice County announced today its Housing & Redevelopment Authority has been selected for the fall 2025 cohort of Counties for Housing Solutions (C4HS), a cohort program from the National Association of Counties (NACo) and Smart Growth America designed to increase housing supply in counties.
NACo launched C4HS to help counties implement recommendations from NACo’s 2023 Housing Task Force, convened with the goal of addressing America’s housing crisis. By implementing strategies to increase housing supply, counties will bring down rents and create a pathway to upward economic mobility for American families.
“Despite the work done in the last several years by the Housing & Redevelopment authorities in Rice County, Faribault and Northfield and by our local governments, there is still a serious lack of housing options that are affordable for the average county worker,” said Joy Watson, Rice County Housing Director. “Solutions to the housing crisis need to include a wide range of options because no two households are the same. We’re hoping to learn about additional tools to make housing affordable to the people who live and work in Rice County.
Over a 14-week period, the HRA will assess and update their zoning codes as needed to increase affordable housing development and the overall housing supply. Participating counties are expected to be on track to formally adopt an amendment to its zoning code at the conclusion of the program.
The county is hoping to learn best practices about how to move forward with growth and development in an orderly way, while also reducing barriers to new homeowners and new construction.
C4HS is part of NACo’s larger Counties for Economic Mobility initiative, which advances practices for equitable upward economic mobility to move individuals and families out of poverty. The initiative is funded through a grant from the Gates Foundation.
For more information about the C4HS program, visit www.naco.org/program/counties-housing-solutions.
