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Amy Scott

Host & Senior Correspondent, Housing

SHORT BIO

Amy Scott is the host of “How We Survive,” Marketplace's climate solutions podcast, and a senior correspondent covering housing, climate and the economy. She is also a frequent guest host of Marketplace programs.

Since 2001, Amy has held many roles at Marketplace and covered many beats, from the culture of Wall Street to education and housing. Her reporting has taken her to every region of the country as well as Egypt, Dubai and Germany.  Her 2015 documentary film, “Oyler,” about a Cincinnati public school fighting to break the cycle of poverty in its traditionally urban Appalachian neighborhood, has screened at film festivals internationally and was broadcast on public television in 2016. She's currently at work on a film about a carpenter's mission to transform an abandoned block in west Baltimore into a community of Black women homeowners.

Amy has won several awards for her reporting, including a SABEW Best in Business podcast award in 2023, Gracie awards for outstanding radio series in 2013 and 2014 and an Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting in 2012. Before joining Marketplace, Amy worked as a reporter in Dillingham, Alaska, home to the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon run. These days she's based in Baltimore.

Latest Stories (1,673)

In addressing the housing shortage, we might need to rethink the way housing policy works

Feb 10, 2022
A new book by Jenny Schuetz, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, sheds light on possible solutions.
"The market wants very much to build more homes in high-demand locations, but we have a whole set of policies that make it virtually impossible to add housing," said Jenny Schuetz at the Brookings Institution.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Are we too attached to old homes?

Jan 31, 2022
Housing supply has been an issue for years. Could Americans' love for old homes be part of the problem?
"You can find architecture critics in the early 20th century talking about how brownstones are these cheap, ticky-tacky, repetitive developments," said M. Nolan Gray. "and if you look over Brooklyn, right, there are a lot of these things, and they look all basically the same."
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Why it's so hard to pass climate crisis legislation in the U.S.

Jan 27, 2022
The American political system makes it easier to block change than to create it, explains Shannon Osaka of Grist.
The Build Back Better Bill is stalled, but it's not the first time that legislation aimed at tackling climate change has been sidelined.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Homebuilders say they can't find enough workers despite better pay

Jan 20, 2022
Demand is pushing up wages, but not enough, some say, to bring young workers to the door as older ones head for the exit.
The construction industry is dealing with a labor shortage as older workers leave the field and too few young people choose to join it.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

What's behind the housing inflation disconnect?

Jan 11, 2022
For many Americans, rents are rising much faster than official numbers suggest.
Depending on the source, rent rose anywhere from 3% to 18% last year. Above, apartments in New York City.
Drew Angerer via Getty Images

Borrowing for second homes to become more expensive

Jan 7, 2022
Demand for vacation homes has crowded out would-be homeowners, but will higher fees make a dent?
Upfront fees for some second-home loans could increase by as much as 3.9% starting in April. Above, beachfront vacation homes in Florida.
felixmizioznikov via Getty Images

How 4 families are adjusting their budgets for the holiday season

Dec 21, 2021
Many Americans are in better financial condition this year but remain cautious, says Wall Street Journal reporter Veronica Dagher.
For many Americans during the holidays this year, there can be a disconnect between how they are doing financially and how they feel about the economy or how freely they spend.
Mario Tama via Getty Images

Does the DIY home improvement boom have staying power?

Dec 14, 2021
Do-it-yourself projects were declining. Then the pandemic arrived.
Jessa Wais is co-director of the Station North Tool Library in Baltimore, where members can borrow tools and take home-repair classes.
Amy Scott/Marketplace

Kentucky housing advocate on tornado recovery: “We can’t go back to the status quo”

Dec 13, 2021
Even before the tornadoes destroyed more than a thousand homes, Kentucky had a shortage of affordable rentals.
A homeowner reacts to tornado damage on Dec. 12 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. “We want to make sure that people have the ability to live and rebuild,” said Adrienne Bush, executive director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky.
Gunnar Word/AFP via Getty Images

California's Project Roomkey "has really worked for a lot of people"

Dec 13, 2021
A Bay Area nonprofit has helped nearly 400 people move from the program into stable housing.
A resident gathers her belongings in a motel room provided to people needing shelter through Project Roomkey.
Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images