Affordable Housing

Affordable housing means housing people can afford to live in. It's a complicated subject that has confounded better minds than mine. Communities all over the country and as close to home as Hood River and Clark County are struggling with this issue. I don't have answers, but I do have some ideas about how to start. And I do know that the market will not provide affordable housing for many groups, including low-income seniors and disabled adults.

Subsidized housing, like Simcoe Manor and Crestview Apartments, which have some subsidy from the USDA Rural Development, are one attempt to address this problem, but they are not the whole picture of affordable housing. Vouchers, paid to private landlords (the $100,000 per month mentioned in the Facebook post) are another tool, but certainly also not the whole picture.

So let's do some Q&A

1. When is housing affordable? The rule of thumb is that families at or below median income who pay more than 30% of their income for housing may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing transportation, and medical care.¹ Housing costs include rent and utilities or for homeownership include mortgage, insurance, property tax, and utilities.
2. What does this look like in Klickitat County? Here's a quick review of income and housing cost data for Klickitat County. These numbers are county-wide, and we all know that the situation is different from area to area in the County.
   • Klickitat County median income is 49,700, meaning half earn more and half earn less. If you earn the median income, you can afford 49,700 x 30% / 12 months = $1242 / month is affordable.
   • A starting school teacher's base salary in Klickitat County, with a college degree, 15 post-college credits and two years of teaching experience is $35,884. Affordable housing costs are $897 / month
   • A person working full time at the Washington state minimum wage of $9.47/hour is earning about $ 19,697/ year. Affordable housing costs of $492 / month.
   • Median gross rent 2010 – 2014 is $791 / month, not including utilities, which as we all know are rising rapidly here. And IF you can find something available.
   • Median price of a home is around $200,000, with an estimated mortgage payment of around $884 / month, not including taxes, insurance, or utilities.

3. How do we start? With facts, of course. What are the needs? What does the housing stock look like? How much of it is up to minimum standards? Where is it? What does it cost (purchase and rental). This is the easy part, and much of this information is either already available or can be gathered by community councils or city councils. I would guess that working families and/or seniors are the biggest groups needing affordable housing, but there are also homeless, addiction treatment, mental health patients, domestic violence shelters, students, and seasonal employees (in the recreation and agricultural sectors).

   Then we need to set goals. What do we want, where, and how? For example, do we want an assisted living facility in each part of the county (west, central, and east) or one larger facility which might have more choices about types of unit and services provided in a more central location?

4. What tools and mechanisms that might be available? This is a partial list, but there's food for thought.
   • Zoning (lot sizes, proximity to transportation and services, etc.)
   • Community land trusts
   • Non-profit development
   • Less expensive construction methods
   • Use of recording fee funds
   • Development incentives?
   • Rental vouchers
   • Workforce housing
   • ADU

5. Where should affordable housing be located? It is probably more suitable in zones which permit more dense residential areas, such as in the Rural Center zones, which permit small lots for houses and also permit mixed-use commercial and residential development. The obvious exceptions are seasonal agricultural and recreational employee housing, which probably ought to be near the place of work. Residential development siting should be developed during the comprehensive planning process. Denser housing must be located in areas with services and must be compatible with surrounding uses. I would look to community councils and city councils to engage with this question and provide their solutions.

   Infrastructure is critical, as it planning for provision of services. Affordable housing is more practical where there is infrastructure (water, sewage handling, roads, utilities) and where services can be provided efficiently (police, emergency services, schools). The County needs to take the lead on developing infrastructure in areas identified in community planning to encourage affordable housing.

6. Anything else? There are certainly other policy issues involved. Airbnb and short term rentals are obvious ones. Like other housing issues, these are certainly not easy to address, but it's necessary to start a community dialogue.
7. The market will not take care of providing housing that people of all ages, income levels, and situations can afford to live it. The market has not succeeded so far, because there is not enough money to be made. Businesses need to run in the black, which is tough with in the affordable housing market. I want people of all income levels to be able to live here. Our community will be stronger and our consciences more tranquil.