In March, Habitat World editor Bill Walsh, center, visited Santiago, Guatemala, where he discussed the Hurricane Stan disaster with local Habitat officials.

Defining the Problem

by Bill Walsh

I have had the particular pleasure of living in small cities for the past four years, first in Indiana and now in Americus, Ga., where Habitat for Humanity International has been headquartered since its inception.

In Indiana, Shelbyville sustained a population that had remained virtually unchanged for more than 20 years before Indianapolis' growth finally caught up during my last year there. When I left, there were literally hundreds of new homes under construction.

Relatively modest homes, for the most part. Oh, they are big enough, at 2,500 to 3,000 square feet, but sit on small lots, by and large, and are priced to reflect the economies of scale that the few builders who are involved in the boom are able to realize.

The construction scene in Americus, it seems to me, centers more around renovation of the many lovely older homes in and surrounding the historic downtown, though there are some relatively new developments on the perimeter of the city. And New Horizons, the local Habitat affiliate, is quite active in the area.

All this is to say that I have been exposed to some construction activity in recent years, though not to anywhere near the extent of those living in nearby Atlanta--or any number of other large and growing American cities.

So I was taken aback by new-home construction during a recent trip to Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia, surprised not so much by the number of new homes, but by their size. Shelter in this metropolis has become some of the most expensive in the country, as I discovered while doing research for a story on construction costs that Habitat World published in December. It's no wonder: Houses have been supersized.

The so-called McMansions, of course, are huge and are more frequently igniting ill will between old neighbors and new, between those who have some and those who have a lot. But run-of-the-mill dwellings are swelling, as well.

Housing obesity is having an effect on Habitat, too. While houses of a few hundred square feet serve families well in much of the world, U.S. community planners seem determined to erect obstacles to simplicity--zoning regulations that prescribe garages and pitched roofs and ornamental exteriors. Beginning on page 7, Rebekah Daniel revisits a core question for Habitat for Humanity: What constitutes "simple, decent housing"?