How to best address homelessness and the housing needs of vulnerable populations remains a topic of debate.
What they're saying: "It's easy to say that the government should just provide housing for everybody. It's easy to say people are lazy," Emett says. "Regardless of whether you're on the left or the right, it's easy to come up with one thing, but it isn't one thing."
Emett is dubious that public-private partnerships are a good solution, saying the private sector helped create this problem and government entities should invest in public housing. Cities could use city-owned property for housing. He added that perhaps philanthropy in an area like NWA could help, though.
Zoom in: The city of Fayetteville has a housing crisis task force and created a chief housing officer position in 2025. The city is finalizing details on a program to assist low-income people with down payments and to convert existing duplexes owned by New Beginnings to "address the need for single-occupancy spaces for formerly homeless residents as opposed to expecting individuals to share units," chief housing officer Marlee Stark told Axios in an email.
Fayetteville is planning to release a housing needs assessment this spring, she said.
