For starters, housing needs differ between, say, a young family and a senior on a fixed income. And the issues facing rapidly growing cities are different from those in places like Buffalo, where decades of population decline and an aging housing stock have created their own set of challenges.

On the latest episode of Driven to Discover, urban planning professor Robert Silverman discusses the complex forces driving the nation’s housing crisis, the particular challenges facing Buffalo, and why there are no easy answers.

In this episode, Silverman, an internationally regarded planning scholar, discusses the many barriers to affordable renting and homeownership, the limitations of government assistance programs, and the complexities of promoting neighborhood investment without displacing longtime residents. He also shares insights from his research in Buffalo, including the potential of housing vouchers to create pathways out of poverty.