Webinar Trainings

Live trainings begin this Fall, but you can register today! Starting the week after Labor Day, Housing Forward’s live training series will explore three core topics:

Zoning Tools & Municipal Incentives
Funding & Financing Deep Dive
Building Public Support

Each module takes place over one week, with three 90-minute sessions offered that week—one for each place type cohort:

Centers & Mills
Neighborhoods & Corridors
Villages, Woodlands & Shores

All three cohorts cover the same core material, but the tools, examples, and discussion are tailored to the characteristics of each place type—including the buildings, parcels, development patterns, and regulatory conditions communities are working with.

For example, a conversation about adaptive reuse may look very different in a downtown mill district than it does for a rural school building or a suburban office park. Housing Forward’s cohort structure is designed to make the training practical and relevant to the places you’re actually working in.

Most Rhode Island communities include more than one place type, and no single category will perfectly describe every municipality. You’re welcome to participate in more than one cohort if that better reflects your work. If you’re not sure which cohort is the best fit, the descriptions below can help you identify the place type that most closely aligns with the areas where housing opportunities and challenges are most prevalent.

Centers & Mills

This place type is for areas intended to accommodate economic activity and may include commercial, multifamily, mixed-use, institutional, and industrial land uses. These areas typically have existing infrastructure, transit, larger buildings, infill and adaptive reuse opportunities, and are appropriate for denser residential development.

Neighborhoods & Corridors

This category generally covers suburban areas that have commercial activity concentrated in corridors. Comprised of predominantly single and two-family residential uses, these places tend to have infrastructure, limited transit, and could have potential for middle market housing and residences above existing businesses.

Villages, Woodlands, & Shores

These areas are commonly found outside of RI’s urban core in less densely populated communities with rural and coastal characteristics and rich environmental resources. These areas typically have limited infrastructure and little to no transit. Detached single-family on larger lots is the dominant land use pattern, with some density and commercial activity focused in villages and main streets.

HOUSING FORWARD LIVE WEBINARS | FALL 2026

To register for one or more webinars, select the event card below for the session(s) you’d like to attend. Webinar links will be provided upon registration.

Because housing affects every Rhode Island community and every Rhode Islander, Housing Forward and its webinars are open to all. These sessions are designed to provide individuals and communities with the information, tools, and resources they need to better understand housing opportunities and support housing solutions in their communities.