Cities get creative as costs bite
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
As Americans feel increasingly pinched in their pocketbooks, local governments are getting imaginative to help residents.
Why it matters: As President Trump slashes social safety net funding, cities are absorbing more of the burden to address affordability.
State of play: Trump's signature tax law cuts the federal share of SNAP administrative costs, a shift advocates say will strain state budgets and reduce services.
- His proposed FY2027 budget would cut 13% from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including grants for homelessness, Indigenous housing and community development.
What they're saying: "It is partly desperation, but I think you can see some inspiration there too," Dean Baker, a macroeconomist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says.
- Michael Wallace, with the National League of Cities, tells Axios: "As much money as the federal government has put into these systems, it's never been enough to keep up with need or keep up with inflation."
- It all costs more than a budget can cover, Wallace says, "but from a local perspective, they have to make it work."
Here's some of the ways cities are getting crafty:
Repurposed for housing
Some locales are redefining what counts as a home to expand affordable housing.
- An abandoned church in Boston, Massachusetts is being redeveloped into dozens of affordable housing units.
- Jacksonville, Florida, is turning an old elementary school property into 120 affordable apartments.
- A 155-year-old shuttered tinsel mill in Connecticut will provide 160 new units.
Metallic gardens
Cities are taking on soaring utility bills by planting solar gardens on roofs.
- Community solar projects let residents tap into shared panels without installing their own.
By the numbers: In D.C., eligible residents can save up to $500 a year.
- New Yorkers can save up to $180 annually.
- Minnesotans can keep about $300 extra dollars in their pockets.
Food affordability
A handful of cities operate or back grocery stores to fill gaps in underserved areas.
- Kansas' St. Paul Supermarket has been owned by the city since 2013, serving the area's 16,000 residents, per the Rural Grocery Initiative.
- Similar models operate in Atlanta and Madison, Wisconsin.
Yes, but: These stores often succeed in food deserts with little competition.
Cutting costs wherever they can
Libraries are evolving into one-stop shops for borrowing useful items.
- In Brunswick, Maine, residents can rent wood chippers, cooking equipment, boomboxes or crank radios with flashlights.
- Baltimore residents can check out fishing poles, cameras, mobile hot spots and karaoke kits.
Some cities have eliminated transit fares, including Tucson, Arizona; Iowa City, Iowa; and Alexandria, Virginia.
Worth noting: Kansas City eliminated fares in 2020 but reinstated them in 2025 after budget constraints.
Encouraging micromobility transit like shared e-scooters and e-bikes have also sprung up, allowing users to ditch their cars for lower-cost alternatives.
Case in point: Denver offers e-bike vouchers of up to $1,400, which often sell out within hours.
- Those cyclists are avoiding roughly 170,000 miles in car trips each week.
The bottom line: Boosting wages may do more to ease affordability than targeting prices, Economic Policy Institute analyst David Cooper tells Axios.
- "A local government really can't do much to change the price of oil," he says.
- "If everyone was earning 10, 20% more in their paychecks, a lot of these affordability conversations that we're having would be moot."
Go deeper: Iran conflict could worsen America's affordability crisis
