( The Hill ) — As the precipitous rise in housing costs over the past decade has put buying a traditional home out of reach for many Americans, a growing number are turning to nontraditional alternatives.
Some are repurposing old commercial buildings or buying land and prefabricated homes, while others are choosing to share homes with strangers to cut down on costs.
Here are three nontraditional ways Americans are housing themselves:
Tiny houses
When Elisa Boots and her husband, Rick, moved from New York City to Seattle 10 years ago, they arrived just as the city was experiencing the biggest population boom in its 174-year history. Thanks to a surge in tech jobs coupled with a growing city economy, Seattle gained about 60,000 new residents between 2010 and 2014, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
America’s housing shortage by the numbers
That boom increased the demand for housing, which in turn caused the price of homes to skyrocket in the city. Six months after they arrived, the couple discovered that they couldn’t afford to buy a home in Seattle or its suburbs…