HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-05-20 Public Comment - Z. Wright - Bozeman Housing and Rent CrisisFrom:Zachary Wright
To:Agenda
Subject:Bozeman Housing and Rent Crisis
Date:Sunday, July 5, 2020 9:39:26 PM
To whom it may concern,
As I am sure as you are well aware the housing market in Bozeman has been a nightmare for several years now. I
now feel the need for action has come. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak and the threat to the economy, local,
national, and international, the Bozeman housing market bubble continues to grow out of control. The construction
industry has provided a false demand for housing as it draws people to live here, yet when the construction is done
they won’t continue to be here, they essentially are building for themselves. The increase in empty houses and
apartments, and listings currently is the highest I have seen it in 5 years of living here and I don’t blame people for
wanting to leave because of the insane pricing. There is no reason a 600 square foot apartment with one should ever
cost over $1000. How is this intuitive to allow this robbery when the young crowd that the city is so interested in
drawing in would be spending half of their money just on rent. This encourages a debt driven society that we are
already driven towards. Something has to be done, only the upper middle class is able to remotely afford quality
homes in the Bozeman area and even then with the prices, there needs to be two income providers to keep the
household afloat. When a landlord can get away with charging over $1000 dollars a month for a basement
“apartment” that doesn’t have full windows, a spot for a full sized fridge, or even two full rooms, this has gone too
far. I want to be able to stay in Bozeman and continue my career and live independently, but that is a lie because of
the atrocity that has become the Bozeman housing market. I understand the concept of making the community
desirable, however Bozeman is pricing out some of its best and brightest that come out of MSU who want to stay
but can not afford it. It is a hopeless dream to think that any normal 20+ year old making twice minimum wage can
afford to live without at least one roommate. Why is this the reality, why can our generation not have started homes
that are reasonably priced, the “starter homes” of the Bozeman area start in “the mid-300s”. I ask any sane and
reasonable person, is that affordable to anyone who is supposed to be in the middle class? And might I remind
everyone that the middle class usually makes $40,000 to $50,000 a year. I have worked in the construction industry
for a short time, I know the cost of building is not where the cost of housing comes from. It is the lie that housing in
Bozeman is worth so much more than anywhere else. Well Bozeman isn’t worth anything without it’s people, and
those people who have slaved as essential workers throughout COVID-19 can’t afford to live in this town or even
Belgrade by themselves. I am calling for action by our city to correct this gross injustice carried out on the people of
Bozeman. This is something that everyone should be concerned about, even those who are invested into the housing
market or landlords, because the quality of housing it going down for an increase in price, and the fake standard of
living that Bozeman puts on airs about is being called out now. How much property taxes are is public record and
landlords are getting away with highway robbery for apartments that are infested and haven’t been updated since the
1980s. It is up to everyone to combat this crisis otherwise Bozeman as a community will fail, the foundation of local
businesses will fail as everyone is forced into shopping through Amazon or WalMart just to be able to scrape by on
rent and mortgage. Rent control needs to exist, inflation of the housing market needs to cease immediately, and
property taxes need to be managed.
Sincerely,
Zachary Wright
Concerned citizen and unlikely Bozeman homeowner