The Segment No One Is Talking About Beyond disaster recovery, another challenge is quietly growing. “There’s very little talk about the missing middle,” Hardiman says. “Teachers, nurses, police officers… they can’t afford housing either.” “These are the people who keep communities running. And they’re the ones getting squeezed.”
“That’s one of the things that drives me nuts. We can do permanent housing in some places, like Hawaii or Alaska, but not others. It just doesn’t make sense.” That limitation shapes how communities rebuild, and how long solutions actually last. “Right now, in most cases, FEMA can only offer temporary housing—HUD-code structures that cost taxpayers a tremendous amount of money to store, transport, and repair. It's a huge waste.” When Speed Becomes Critical In moments of crisis, time becomes the most valuable resource. After the Maui wildfires, thousands of homes were lost almost overnight. The need for housing wasn’t theoretical, it was immediate.
This isn’t a niche issue.
It’s the largest segment of the housing market.
“We really want to zoom in on that segment… because that’s the biggest segment.” And solving it won’t come from a single method of building. It will come from expanding how the industry approaches the problem. “There’s very little talk about the missing middle. Teachers, nurses, police officers… they can’t afford housing either. These are the people who keep communities running. We really want to zoom in on that.” —HARDIMAN
Modular construction became part of the solution.
“Our member companies were able to deliver a couple hundred permanent residential units,” Hardiman says. “In situations like that, speed really matters. And having the ability to deliver housing quickly makes a real difference.”
But those moments also highlight something deeper:
the importance of coordination between industry, government, and policy.
Because when those pieces align, the industry moves faster.
It’s when they don’t, that progress slows.
MOVEMENT MODULAR THE 22
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