Some places in Imperial County, California, experienced 117 days above 100 degrees this year.
Housing
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
Why the country’s largest shellfish farm is struggling to hire and retain workers
And how it’s dealing with climate change and housing costs to make back-breaking work a little easier.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
‘Estás viviendo en una lata’
En Arizona, los residentes de casas rodantes son más propensos a morir de calor excesivo.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
‘You’re living in a tin can’
Arizona’s mobile-home residents are far more likely to die from excessive heat.
Posted inArticles
When a housing crisis meets a megaflood
June’s massive Yellowstone-area floods illuminated and worsened housing inequities across southwestern Montana.
Posted inArticles
A new podcast explores the Almeda Drive Fire’s aftermath
Isabella Ruikis’ ‘movement journalism’ explores Oregon’s most destructive wildfire and finds hope for the future in community-based action.
Posted inArticles
Record rainfall, bears and French toast at Anchorage’s new city-sanctioned homeless encampment
A network of mutual aid organizers provides meals and supplies for people experiencing homelessness.
Posted inAugust 1, 2022: Our Fiery Future
How to rebuild in a time of endless fire
Okanogan County, Washington, had hardly recovered from the last devastating wildfire when the next one struck.
Posted inArticles
Washington’s largest homeless encampment faces an uncertain future
With the state planning to spend $24 million on relocation, residents of Camp Hope aspire to self determination and continued community.
Posted inArticles
How growing Western rec towns might hold onto their futures
Researchers look to give small tourism communities the tools for a GNARly approach.
Posted inArticles
Where anti-LGBTQ+ politics intersect with housing the homeless
A new report shows Southern Oregon’s largest homeless shelter is led by a conversion-therapy proponent.
Posted inJune 1, 2022: A Legacy of Weapons and War
Who’s after rare metals in the Klamath Mountains?
While the region has a small cache of tellurium, politics and economics are in the way.
Posted inArticles
Why rural communities struggle to bring in much-needed federal grants
A new analysis suggests that over half of communities in the West lack the capacity to take advantage of infrastructure bill funding. Now what?
Posted inMarch 1, 2022: The Cloning Conundrum
Portland community leaders bring the heat to building standards
An activist collective says making buildings carbon-free is just the start.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2022: Essential
Cultural extraction at the edge of the abyss
Butte, Montana, doesn’t have a major art museum. Instead, it has a gigantic toxic pit.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Income inequality proliferates across the West
How history, tax policies and gentrification play into wealth inequity.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Vacation resort replaces affordable housing in Teton Valley
Once-affordable towns near Jackson Hole have become real estate magnets since the pandemic.
Posted inArticles
Wildland firefighters struggle with homelessness
Workers are being pushed out of the field by low pay and few affordable housing options.
Posted inArticles
7 statistics that illuminate the housing crisis
Headwaters Economics shines a light on record-breaking costs in the West.
Posted inArticles
Home after fire: A new housing model aims to give kids stability
Wildfires often hit low-income, minority families the hardest. Talent, Oregon, offers a home-grown solution to the displacement that follows.