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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-23-24 Public Comment - Z. Osman - Tonight's Talk on Affordable HousingFrom:Zehra Osman To:Terry Cunningham Cc:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Tonight"s Talk on Affordable Housing Date:Monday, September 23, 2024 11:58:55 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Mayor Cunningham, Good luck on your presentation on Affordable Housing tonight at the Ellen. I’ve heard the Commission talk about how some of the tools that may help our housing crisis are no longer available due to recent decisions in the legislature. Is this something Montana citizens can help with? Should we join together to bring voter-initiated referendums that would either reverse barriers brought about by Helena? We citizens can certainly work to smooth the way for the Commission to implement real solutions to the housing crisis. Additionally, as someone who lives on the west side of Bozeman, I am puzzled by some of the discussions about how upzoning and increasing density in the oldest portions of our City will solve the housing crisis. Are we also talking about upzoning in newer parts of Bozeman? Does this mean a developer can purchase multiple properties on Durston and Ferguson, demolish them, and then build a large multiplex? Or is this something that developers ONLY want to do in the oldest parts of our City where we have historic buildings and districts, which are usually the more desirable sections of town where they have higher returns on investment? I ask this question ahead of your talk because it seems this is a huge sticking point that pits citizen against citizen, while all we’ve seen so far is that the newer multiplex developments that have replaced historic buildings downtown are not affordable. It doesn’t make sense. Let’s tell investors and developers to NOT demolish our trees, our riparian areas, our waterways, historic buildings, historic districts. These resources do not belong to any one person or any one entity. Not really. They belong to all of us. They also belong to future generations. They should absolutely be preserved. Let’s make a map that shows developers/investors that these resources as “off-limits” and then show them what we really need. Let’s ask them to make other parts of Bozeman more walkable (such as the west side!) by creating destinations within walking distance from clusters of housing of all types. Let’s tell them luxury housing is not what we need, but we do need good quality housing for our working class and low income residents. This subject intersects with so many other city efforts. I google “real estate investments in Bozeman’ and get some terribly discouraging results showing how investors benefit most when prices skyrocket and they really don’t care about those who live and work here. Yet, rather than finding ways to prevent this greedy and adverse impact, I see citizens fighting each other and fighting the City. I am optimistic that we can work together. Again, good luck tonight and thanks for all you do. Zehra Osman Sanders, 59718