HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-05-24 Public Comment - P. McGowan - Do you hear what I hear__From:Patty McGown
To:Bozeman Public Comment; Takami Clark; Chuck Winn
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Do you hear what I hear??
Date:Thursday, December 5, 2024 8:00:42 AM
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Dear City Commissioners and City planners and et.al.
I live at 222 S 13 Ave (Jandt neighborhood) adjacent to the Chequamegon (shwa-ma-gain)retirement community and a 2 acre field and a trailer park on Babcock. And several otheraffordable housing developments from decades past. I mention them because like the Jandtneighborhood, they are examples of what affordable housing looks like. Don’t get me wrong,the property values and rents of these places have gone up in the past 10 years, but they areproviding housing that is affordable for the current Bozeman growth situation. If upzoning isapproved and the shallow and deep incentives continue to be part of Bozeman zoning, thesenaturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) options will be swallowed up by thedevelopment and real estate “monster” that has already gluttonized on the rampant andunaffordable developments that have been built, and/or are being approved and built currentlyin Bozeman.
Fact: There are over 1,100 apartments listed for rent on apartments.com in Bozeman rightnow. That is density! And unfortunately , these apts are not “affordable” and the rents are not“trickling down” to affordable based on density, or magically becoming affordable by thegenerosity of developers. Increasing housing Density does not create affordability. Pleaseadopt this as a mantra.
We’ve ALL been sold a myth. Density does not create affordability. “Trickle down affordability” in housing is a myth. Justlike “trickle down economics” is a myth.
Recently, I heard that employees in Big Sky pay their employers for housing, and for thecommuting, and for food, and that after they pay these costs (rent, travel, food) to theiremployers after working a full-time for 2 weeks, that their pay check was $63. What theheck??? Can you imagine living on $63?
This is the effect of trickle down. The only truth to it is the first 5 letters. T-R-I-C-K!!! It’s atrick! And that’s not even what I wanted to write about but serves as an example that “trickledown” anything, does not work.
The concept of “trickle down” unfortunately only serves to make the top tier richer and themiddle and bottom tiers pay the price, and become poorer, and eventually, as currently seen inBozeman, homeless. And now, being homeless, is a crime. And more of the city budget willbe needed to “fight” this “homelessness” crime. It’s a sad and avoidable downward spiral thatwe (Bozeman) are in currently. Avoidable by not destroying NOAH through restrictingdensity in the UDC and promoting affordability by keeping neighborhoods intact andincentivizing ADU’s or making an existing home into a duplex or triplex.
The affordability problem is so much bigger than the Gallatin Valley. The affordability
problem is nation wide. But the “development solution” that promotes density, over keepingneighborhoods intact, does not create affordability. It actually totally ruins the essence of the
community.Ironically, the reason folks want to move to community neighborhoods, and now, what is
being proposed in the UDC is destined to fail to provide the needed affordable housing,(because there are already 1,185 overpriced rentals in Bozeman as I type this) just like in all
the other cities where density was touted as the affordability solution.
Additionally, for Bozeman to be a “walkable” city, as pro-density infill development advocateMark Egge pontificates, then in the new development code it must be a mandated to install
walking paths between every building and around every development and in every subdivisionand in every neighborhood. Walkability isn’t an accident, it’s a planned concept that requires a
proactive planning process to include connected paths throughout the community. It must berequired in the UDC.
And parking. Every adult has a car! Some have 2 or 3. Using parking as a negotiation tool for
affordability is ludicrous. Please learn from other cities who gave up parking to developmentand it was a mistake. Same for building heights.
And trees and water and natural resource features need to be protected in the UDC and not cut
down, scraped off or annihilated. These natural features are the most vulnerable to rampantdevelopment. Protect them as you would a small child. They are very, very important for
climate change and desirability when it comes to wanting to live in a place. It’s a no brainer.
And the fact that over 200 people completed the relatively poorly written historic preservationsurvey is a phenomenal result. Hearing the Mayor disrespect those survey results at the
November commission meeting was a slap in the face. Please do not be so flippant withremarks that incriminate you with your biases. It’s very disheartening and only supports the
belief in the community that the commissioners are not listening to the tax paying and votingresidents, but to paid consultants and developers.
Please listen!
Patty McGown
222 S 13th Ave406-600-1349
Call me anytime to chat