Two Problems, One Affordable Green Solution

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4.5 • 52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

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Summary

The U.S. faces a housing crisis and growing threats of climate change. One global city is tackling both problems at once, and U.S. cities are paying attention. In this episode of The Sunday Story, NPR's Julia Simon travels to Vienna, Austria to see how they make affordable housing that's resilient to climate change. And she meets politicians trying to build this "green social housing" in America.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is a Sunday story where we go beyond the news to bring you one big story.
0:06.7	On the show, you know, we often talk a lot about the problems facing our country and our world.
0:13.5	But today we have a story about a solution.
0:17.4	It addresses two of the biggest problems affecting people across the country, housing and climate change.
0:24.2	To tell us more, we have NPR's Climate Solutions correspondent, Julia Simon.
0:29.0	Hello, Ayesha.
0:30.3	Today, I want to take you to a place that's working to combat climate change through their housing.
0:36.6	That place is Vienna.
0:38.3	So Vienna, Austria?
0:40.8	You're not talking about like Vienna, Virginia.
0:42.6	No, Vienna, Austria.
0:44.9	Okay, okay.
0:48.4	Julia, like, how did you find yourself reporting on climate and housing in Vienna? And it seems like you're very good at
0:56.3	getting these good gigs. Oh my goodness. You are right. And like many great adventures,
1:03.8	this one started at a happy hour. A happy hour for climate researchers. And these climate researchers,
1:10.2	they kept repeating one word over and over.
1:13.5	Vienna, Vienna, Vienna. And I was like, what is the deal with Vienna? I had to find out.
1:20.0	A few months ago, my colleague Ryan Kelman and I traveled to the Austrian capital. My hat just flew
1:26.3	off because it's very windy. We were in this
1:29.0	big grassy park with playgrounds full of kids. There's a bunch of apartment buildings around this
1:36.1	park, but one stands out. It's a modern building. It's lots of wood, lots of windows. On one of the
1:42.6	top floors, I see a guy in a beanie waving.
	...

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