At this year’s Groundwork Housing Summit, attendees heard from Cullum Clark, Director of the Bush Institute–SMU Economic Growth Initiative, who explored the link between housing, opportunity and long-term prosperity in Northwest Arkansas and across the nation.
Housing, Clark explained, is not just about shelter. It’s about economic mobility. “It is about whether people will be able to save money in our economy. If you don’t accumulate any savings, it’s extremely difficult to get ahead.” With nearly 40% of Americans lacking savings, homeownership remains the principal pathway to building and passing on wealth. And in fast-growing regions like Northwest Arkansas, the choices being made today “will powerfully influence all kinds of aspects about the future trajectory of this region.”
America’s Housing Shortfall
Clark traced the roots of today’s housing challenges to a long-term national shortage. Since 2000, the U.S. has underbuilt 5 - 7 million homes. Although demand has surged in many regions, new housing remains concentrated in a few fast-growing metro areas, accounting for 40% of all homes built since 2010, despite housing only 20% of the population. Most of this construction has occurred in suburban areas, pushing development further outward.
He emphasized that “we need housing growth to spread more widely around this country.” New supply, he added, does work. Austin, for example, saw home prices drop 20% and rents fall 10% relative to income during its recent building boom.
Yet even as the market adjusts, structural barriers remain. Tariffs have added roughly 3% to the cost of building a home, and a “mortgage lock-in effect” has limited mobility as homeowners cling to lower-rate mortgages. The nation currently builds about 1.3 - 1.4 million homes per year, short of the 1.6 - 2.1 million needed to meet population growth and replace aging stock.
The Northwest Arkansas Challenge
For years, Northwest Arkansas has enjoyed a reputation for affordability. That edge, Clark warned, is fading. Home prices in Bentonville have nearly doubled since 2019, while prices across the region are now more than four times the median household income, on par with larger metros like Atlanta and Raleigh.
The region’s economic vitality and a rich quality of life continue to attract newcomers. Yet the success that fuels growth threatens its sustainability. Clark pointed to growing commute times, rising price-to-income ratios and an increasingly stretched tax base as warning signs.
Communities, he noted, must avoid five “temptations and traps”: remaining low-density bedroom towns, rejecting workforce housing, building unsustainable infrastructure, giving overly generous incentives, or rejecting growth altogether.
If growth isn’t managed wisely, he cautioned, “you’re going to start to bump up against a pretty hard ceiling on how much commutes most humans are willing to tolerate.”
Eight Principles for Growing Wisely
Clark concluded with eight guiding principles for regions like Northwest Arkansas to sustain growth and opportunity:
1. Expand outwards, but in smart, sustainable ways
Outward expansion can be part of the solution when done in sustainable ways. “Intelligent suburban expansion can actually be a really good part of the solution,” he said, urging communities to plan infrastructure and density together.
2. Build more homes within existing urban areas
Clark pointed to Houston’s success after reducing minimum lot sizes to allow small townhomes. The change produced 40,000 additional units - proof that modest zoning reforms can yield major results. Translating that approach to NWA’s four largest cities could add roughly 5,000 homes within existing neighborhoods.
3. Innovate
Communities should embrace innovative housing types, such as manufactured or modular homes, that combine quality with affordability.
4. Follow the Jane Jacobs principle
Referencing the urbanist’s classic The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Clark noted, “Mixing of uses in close proximity is the very lifeblood and the source of vibrancy in cities.” Separating homes, jobs, and shops has diminished vitality and accessibility; mistakes even small towns can correct by encouraging mixed-use areas.
5. Allow Dynamic Change
Cities must remain adaptable, making room for reinvestment and adaptive reuse rather than freezing development patterns in place.
6. Get the Urban Basics Right
Safety, schools, and infrastructure form the foundation of livable, high-demand places. Without those fundamentals, even the best plans falter.
7. Create Great Places
Design matters. Thoughtful and walkable neighborhoods foster social connection and long-term value.
8. Subsize Housing – in Limited and Efficient Ways
Public investment has a role, Clark said, but it should be targeted and efficient. Overly fragmented or isolated subsidies add cost without solving the affordability crisis.
A Regional Responsibility with National Impact
Clark closed with a challenge: “Growing wisely and growing well is not just about a good quality of life here. It is making a significant contribution to addressing this problem nationwide.”
As Northwest Arkansas continues its rapid ascent, the region has the opportunity to model how growth can enhance affordability, equity, and resilience - not just sustain it.
