In its 1999 report, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development demonstrated that there is a growing gap between income and housing costs in the U.S. This isn’t just a problem in robust real estate markets or those cities where housing costs have traditionally been expensive. Data from HUD’s research shows that this gap exists in small and medium cities, as well as some rural areas. The reasons for the gap are numerous. Perhaps the most troubling trend is the continuing shift in income distribution. Prior to 1980, income distribution fell along a statistically predictable bell curve. There was a minority of the poor and a minority of the rich, with most of us falling in the middle. Ever since the Reagan presidency, it looks as if a large finger has pushed down on the bell curve, creating growing numbers of the very poor and the very rich. One of the challenges of affordable housing is providing adequate shelter for the growing ranks of the poor in our nation.