Atlanta’s Housing Crisis: The Case for Shared Living

Atlanta is shifting, and anyone paying attention to housing can feel it. Costs keep climbing, families are being priced out of neighborhoods they’ve lived in for decades, and the need for affordable, dignified living solutions is growing faster than the city can build. But there’s hope—and it’s showing up in both large-scale developments and community-driven models that work differently from traditional housing.

At Singleton Legacy Homes, these changes matter to us because the people we serve live right in the middle of them.

A Quick Look at What’s Happening Across Atlanta

In the last year, Atlanta has taken several meaningful steps to address its housing shortage:

• Invest Atlanta approved major financing to build and preserve affordable units across the city. These projects aren’t just numbers—they’re creating deeply affordable spaces for individuals and families who’ve been shut out of the market.

• In Reynoldstown, an old roadside motel was transformed into 56 affordable housing units near the BeltLine. A small but powerful reminder that creative solutions do work.

• Despite these wins, the Atlanta region lost 232,000 affordable units between 2018 and 2023. That’s a staggering number—and a clear sign that traditional solutions alone aren’t keeping up.

This is the environment our program members are navigating every single day. And it’s the environment that shapes our mission.

Where Singleton Legacy Homes Fits In

While the city works on large-scale development, we serve a different—but critical—part of the solution: shared living for people who need stability, community, and a fresh start.

Here’s why that matters right now:

1. The gap is bigger than ever.

With hundreds of thousands of affordable units gone, people in transition—from incarceration, hospital stays, job loss, or unstable housing—are left with few truly safe options. Shared living steps in where the system falls short.

2. Community is just as important as affordability.

A roof helps—but community heals. Our homes create stability through shared routines, shared spaces, and shared support. For many, that’s the missing piece.

3. Creative housing models are becoming essential.

Atlanta’s progress proves that innovation works. Converting motels, repurposing land, building mixed-income developments—none of this would have been on the table 15 years ago.
Shared living is another form of innovation, offering affordability without isolating people.

Our Commitment Moving Forward

We’re watching these changes closely, not from the sidelines but from within the communities being affected.

In the months ahead, we plan to:

• Expand into neighborhoods where the need is rising

• Strengthen relationships with hospitals, reentry partners, and senior services

• Continue offering homes where program participants are treated with dignity, respect, and compassion

• Highlight why community-based solutions have real staying power

Atlanta’s housing story is still being written. And while large-scale projects make headlines, the quiet, everyday work happening inside shared-living homes is just as important.

Closing Thoughts

At Singleton Legacy Homes, we believe affordable housing should feel like a new beginning—not a last resort. As Atlanta pushes forward with new developments and creative solutions, our role remains clear: provide safe, stable shared living for people who deserve a chance to rebuild.

The city may be changing, but our mission stays the same—community, dignity, and a clean slate for every program participant who walks through our doors.