Americans with changing lifestyles, nontraditional households, and special needs and interests are increasingly looking for alternatives to the single-family house, and especially for the opportunity to share housing with others for economic, social, and personal reasons. This book reviews the status of shared housing in the U.S. housing market, establishes a research and policy agenda on shared housing as a contribution to the national effort to improve housing affordability and quality, and argues for changing public policy to support it.

The book consists of original essays (by Anna Hardman, Sherry Ahrentzen, Jacqueline Leavitt, Jean Butzen, Richard Biddlecombe, Patricia Baron Pollak, Peter Marris, and the editors) on topics such as shared housing in low-income households; shared housing for the elderly; single-room occupancy housing; zoning as a tool for shared housing; and problems associated with shared housing. The authors argue convincingly that current housing policy and regulations, supported by popular opinion, greatly limit the development of multiple-dwelling houses, and they make the case that shared housing can provide an attractive option for low- and moderate-income families who cannot afford suburban homes during a period of economic recession and declining expectations.