<DIV>Tom I.,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I agree most the problems that are in Moscow were not created by the current city council and politicians. But, I don't think they have changed anything either, except in some cases making it worse. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The starter home situation I think is two fold. The fundamental problem with housing is more of a national one, in which banks gave adjustable mortgage rates to people that could not afford them, causing home prices to rise well beyond the rate of inflation. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The other reason that home prices are so high in Moscow is because the city will not allow affordable housing units to be built in Moscow because of their protection of water use. Most of the housing and high paying jobs in Moscow are NOT for the people that here, but for the people they want to move here. Most Moscow residences cannot come close to buying those huge homes in those new subdivisions. Those people are
not second, third, and fourth generation Moscow residents--they came from elsewhere. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I don't consider home ownership as big of an issue as those with little of no housing that is affordable. If a family or person has enough money to put 10% down on a $200,000 home and can afford a $1200 a month mortgage payment, they are obviously not making choices between dental care or Top Ramen for the next 20 days. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Young families are resilient, and they have the hope and ability to save money and work toward home-ownership. The elderly and disabled do not have that opportunity. So I think their situation is much worse than a young family aiming for home ownership where their money making days lay ahead of them, not behind them. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>High housing costs, like for apartments, suppress the economy because students that cannot afford to live in Moscow stay in Boise and go to BSU where they
can live at home and find a higher paying jobs. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR><BR><B><I>Tom Ivie <the_ivies3@yahoo.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> <DIV>Hi Donovan,</DIV> <DIV>I agree with you on this one and as you point out, this was a problem WAY before our current city council. However, there is also another element to affordable housing. What I am talking about is entry level starter homes. Not to blame the developers, because I don't know that it is their fault, but the cost of land is not affordable, this gets passed onto the home-buyer. It is probably a matter of economics that the developers or builders build $200,000 on up homes on the property. I don't blame them for wanting to get the most money out of their investment. The fact is that
salaries have not gone up at even close to the same rate that housing prices did. There has been a lot of purchasing of homes done in a manner of creative financing that neither you or I could even try, but those buying strategies have caused some tapering off in the housing market as a direct or indirect result. Does that higher market affect affordable housing? I think it might. But I don't know how to explain myself on it. Maybe someone can takeover from here and explain if I am onto something. And the same is true if I am completely wrong. I don't mind learning something new.<BR><BR><B><I>Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> <DIV>Joe,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>While I certainly am not a trained expert, I have had extensive experience trying to find affordable housing in Moscow and worked
with many others also trying to afford decent housing. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>When I was in the ASUI Senate, one of my living groups was Family Housing. That caused me to investigate the situation because of the frequent and prevailing problems these families had trying to find adequate housing in the Moscow region. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I also worked with people with disabilities and could not by law work more than a few hours each week or face losing their medical care which was paramount for their survival. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In my own personal quest for housing, I also had trouble finding anything decent and affordable in Moscow. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Here is why I think finding decent housing is unaffordable in Moscow for many people;</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Income restriction. If a couple or two adults make more than $24,000 gross, combined, they do not qualify for low income housing. If they do, their rent
is still usually about $500-$650 a month plus utilities. So two people making $24,000, net $20,000, must spend about $7000 on housing and utilities. Giving them only $6500 a piece to live on for the whole year, not a fun situation to be in! </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Another encroachment is the education exclusion for low income housing. You cannot be a full time student at UI and legally live in most low income housing units. Undergraduate students taking more than 8 credits, or graduate students taking more than 6 do not qualify for most of the low income housing units in Moscow. Another person that doesn't qualify is a student trying to get his or her GED. If they are taking classes to get a GED, you cannot get into low income housing BECAUSE you are full time student. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Market rate based low income housing assistance is also a problem in Moscow. That is where the federal government simply discounts housing units by
about 20% below the market rate. For example, a housing unit that is a two bedroom, one bath unit on the open market in Moscow would be about $625. So the rate is reduced only to about $525 a month. Still unaffordable because Moscow's housing market is so tight, you cannot get the rate to be affordable for many Moscow residents. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Next, you also have rent based rent. These units are limited, hard to get into, and generally places you don't want to live unless you have absolutely not other choice. </DIV> <DIV>Unless you are on Section 8, which is hard to get into and find a place, on want to live in a tiny cramped noisy studio apartment, you are pretty much screwed out of a decent affordable housing unit in Moscow. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I would also like to point out, that the problem with Moscow housing is that there simply is not enough housing for the population. Moscow has
one of the highest per cap. unit in the state, over 21,000 people for just 8,000 units. That drives the rent way up. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The people, that I think have the hardest time, are those that make between $18,000 and $24,000 a year. Because at that rate, you don't qualify for any type of government assistance, not housing, not food stamps,not medical care, and very limited education assistance if any. $18,000-$24,000 is not enough to pay for housing, food, medical care, transportation, and other basic needs in Moscow when you have no assistance. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Because of rules and restrictions on low income housing, many low income housing units sit empty while many who need those housing units are not allowed in.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My suggestion would be to either change the rules so low income housing units get filled up, or build so much housing that the prices
fall from competition. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR><BR><B><I>Joe Campbell <joekc@adelphia.net></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">In her recent letter to the editor, Shelley Bennett writes this about development:<BR><BR>"... in order to get companies to locate in Moscow, we also need affordable <BR>housing options and support services that make living here affordable. The <BR>actions of the current mayor and many members of the City Council have <BR>done everything they can over the course of the last few years to make sure <BR>we do not have affordable housing options."<BR><BR>I don't know much about affordable housing. What I do know, I learned from <BR>Aaron Ament, who is a City Council member, and Bob Stout, who served
<BR>longer on City Council than Tom Lamar. Bob was in favor of affordable housing, <BR>it was a key issue in his campaign two years ago. Aaron, too, is in favor of <BR>affordable housing. I have little reason to believe that Lamar, or Linda Paul, <BR>or Evan Holmes would not be in favor of affordable housing.<BR><BR>I have two questions.<BR><BR>Is what Bennett says true? Has the council made affordable housing options worse?<BR><BR>Doesn't affordable housing begin at the point of development? <BR><BR>I think so. I think that the developer has a lot more control over costs <BR>than any city council, especially if we're restricting government in the way <BR>that Jeff thinks we should. The difference in the cost of a single house with <BR>city fees vs. without them is negligible, I imagine.<BR><BR>But maybe there is something I'm missing.<BR><BR>Best, Joe<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet,
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