In West Virginia communities, housing is not an amenity; it is infrastructure. Without it, workforce recruitment stalls, downtown revitalization loses its foundation, and the people who show up to do the work of community building have nowhere to live. This panel brings together practitioners and local leaders from West Virginia communities at different stages of housing-focused redevelopment, examining the extent of housing needs in West Virginia, opportunities that underutilized properties present, and what it takes to move those properties to a viable residential project in a thin rural market. Conversation will center on the housing market, financing, community trust, and the role of strategic planning in making housing visible as an economic development priority and not just a social service response. Attendees will leave with practical examples applicable to their own communities, and an honest account of what is working, what is not, and why these projects matter.
