HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-23-22 Public Comment - R. Gorsuch - DEVELOPMENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMENTFrom:Royce Gorsuch
To:Agenda
Subject:DEVELOPMENT / AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMENT
Date:Tuesday, August 23, 2022 11:59:59 AM
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DEVELOPMENT / AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMENT
Montana is at a crossroads. A demand boom, that sent rent and home prices to the moon. Simultaneously, we are on the
verge of overbuilding the Last Best Place.
Local working class folks are having their rents raised 20-50%+ overnight, putting some out on the streets. Filling local jobs
is difficult, because people just can’t afford it. This is happening all over the country.
And now Montana is trying to retroactively solve the problem with ideas like increased “affordable housing” - IE expanding
lower quality supply.
It’s an admirable goal - but the “expanding supply” solution presented is economically flawed without reconciling the infinite
demand side of the equation.
Forward demand for Bozeman and Montana will now forever outpace supply. There are macro-economic demand forces
which will continually overpower any local supply incentive. It’s a losing game.
No city has EVER built their way out of affordable housing issues. California built millions of cheap homes in the 70’s. Are
they affordable? No! How about Denver? Nope! How about… (name any desirable metro). They are all “unaffordable.”
There is only one real solution to protect locals from being priced out today; Rent and Tax Stabilization. And I am telling you
this, as a landlord.
In America - housing will only be affordable where no one wants to live. If a place is highly desirable, it will be expensive.
That is capitalism 101. If we really want to protect locals from 50%+ overnight rent increases - there is only one solution; rent
stabilization ordinances immediately. Not retroactive supply incentives.
This is a very tough position for legislators to be in. But instead of trying to retroactively treat the disease, we must holistically
look at the health of our future.
We must first ask the big questions - What kind of place do we want to live in? A place with open space and natural beauty?
With low congestion, ease of living and happy, protected residents? Or one that’s a congested rat-race, with unprotected
residents, constantly needing to build outwards to maintain the bubble?
Do we want highway 191 to be bumper to bumper traffic like Colorado’s I-70? Because it will become that way faster than we
can imagine. Trailheads are overflowing as is.
Unaffordable housing is a global problem based on macro-economic factors out of our control. Look at this recent headline:
Mexico City becomes 'work from home' haven for US expats, as locals are getting priced out
The problem with local ordinances that skirt real solutions is they will fall prey to the mega macro-economic demand forces
that will overpower any supply incentives:
0% interest rates and trillions of dollars of Central Bank stimulus that massively inflated
all prices of all things - mainly housing = high demand for Montana
Permanent remote work - 50% of US office workers still work from home =
unlimited demand for Montana
Large cities becoming undesirable with escalating problems = unlimited demand for
Montana
Climate change migration - a 1200 year drought in the west. 40 million people inArizona and California losing water from the Colorado river running dry = unlimited
demand for Montana
A local university, tourism industry (and Kevin Costner show) that introduces millions
of people to the Last Best Place every year = high demand for Montana
So again, Montana must be EXTREMELY cautious not to use “too late treatment” methodologies but rather have a more
holistic vision of what we want Montana to be like in 10 years. We must ask ourselves, what kind of place do we really want
to live in? We must Protect Montana from hasty overdevelopment to try and satisfy unlimited demand.
Your decisions today will impact Montana residents forever.
Please, Legislators - your current residents who actually voted you into office beg of you - you must do everything you can
to preserve the Last Best Place from becoming another place destroyed by unlimited demand.
And if you truly want to provide the honorable intention of affordable housing to Montana residents - they need rent and
property tax control NOW. Not supply incentives which destroy agriculture and open spaces and deface the Last Best Place.
Protect Montana