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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-15-19 Public Comment - C. Esbjornson - Housing Crisis, Growth and Development Issues raceftived o-. 4 s Dear Members of the Bozeman City Commission: I write to address the housing crisis and the city's growth and development issues. 1) Many of the recent City Commission-approved housing developments feature luxury condos. The last thing we need is more luxury condos in a town that is becoming more unaffordable than ever. Many young people, including those with good jobs and start-up businesses, are despairing of ever being able to afford to purchase or rent housing. 2) 1 am disturbed that the rhetoric in some quarters has shifted from "affordable" to "attainable" housing, implying that housing is available if you can attain it. What makes housing "attainable?" Working 3+jobs per person? It used to be a family could truly afford to purchase a home (not a condo or glorified apartment) on one person's salary. With high housing costs, many young professionals are finding that they have to share the expense of renting an apartment with others to be able to "afford"to live in Bozeman. Owning a home is not attainable or affordable for most of Bozeman's workers.The average income of a Bozeman resident is $26,350 a year.The Median household income of a Bozeman resident is $46,422 a year. In the 3`d quarter, 2019,the median price of a home in Bozeman was$512,000 and in greater Bozeman, $566,000. The median price of a condo in Bozeman proper was$312,500 and in greater Bozeman $350,000 in the 3`d Quarter, 2019. Most telling of all, sales in the high-end market for single-family homes are up 150 percent in Bozeman and 64 percent in greater Bozeman. (See https:Hknoffgroup.com/market-update-q3-2019-real-estate-statistics-and- market-breakdown/). All other areas in the single-family home market are either flat or have actually shown decreased sales. This seems to tell me that affordable homes are actually NOT a priority with this City Commission. 3) 1 am particularly dismayed that the City Commission has approved development projects by one Andy Holloran, especially his high-rise developments. The high-rise condos being built on Black and Olive are a monstrosity.This building abuts two older homes at intolerably close range, which cannot help but negatively impact property values and destroy the older single-family home character of the neighborhood. The City Commission ignored the pleas of residents of this and surrounding neighborhoods and approved the project with "some modifications." To add insult to injury, Mr. Holloran's building features unaffordable luxury condos. Mr. Holloran is a detriment to our community and what should be its values (which is to actually be a diverse community) and, as an outsider, only seems to care about Bozeman insofar as he can make a lot of money here. 4) And just what kind of community is Bozeman aspiring to—one in which you are welcome to live here as long as you are rich (and LGBTQ people,African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics are welcome, too, as long as they are rich), or one that values true community and welcomes people of diverse socio-economic standing ("real" people)? Being a wealthy(in dollars) person has become the real subtext for what kind of community Bozeman seems to be aspiring to, Intended or not. For all the hand-wringing and fine words by city officials that affordable hosing is a number one priority, the message being sent by this community is that you can live here as long as you are rich (whether you are retired or trust-funder, hold down a very high paying professional position, or have grown a spectacularly profitable small business such as in the high tech sector); it's either that or you can go live elsewhere. I need to emphasize that I have little issue with well-off and wealthy people living here, especially if they make positive contributions to our community. The wealth in our community has made possible an attractive downtown, great schools, a wonderful park and trail system, and a thriving arts culture. There's a diversity of interesting, creative, entrepreneurial people here doing lots of interesting things. But socio-economic discrimination is a major problem in our town.This discrimination is one result of this City Commission's growth-at-all-costs measures. People say growth is inevitable. It is not: it is the result of deliberate policy, and in our case, policy that benefits developers and the building industry to the detriment of many others.This City Commission is the most pro-developer, pro-growth City Commission I have witnessed since the Stueck-Stiff City Commission of the mid-1990s, if not even more so. But at least that City Commission was honest and up-front about where they stood. You should know I am a single-family home owner on a quarter-acre of land much of what is devoted to gardening and raising vegetables, fruits, and berries. I have lived in Bozeman for 26 years. When we closed on our home, in 2000, 1 joked that we caught the last helicopter out of Vietnam because home prices shot up the very next month and would have been out of our reach. I am grateful to own a home, which makes me even more dismayed that more and more people cannot in this town. We have a choice: we can either become like San Francisco where even people with good jobs are homeless, or we can come up with innovative solutions that benefit people who make modest incomes who live here and, by so doing, create TRULY affordable options and build true community based on an ethic of neighborly mutual help and cooperation. Of these choices, I believe the latter is well within the capabilities of our people, our community, and our leaders if we set policies that slow growth, and make sure that new housing that is allowed to be built is truly affordable to those with low to moderate incomes, rather than just those who are wealthy. It's time to stop just proclaiming affordable housing is your top priority and to put your words into action. Thank you for your time. cer y,� / � o f ar D. sbjor son Bozeman, MT <;