Designing Our Way to More Affordable Housing

Two of the biggest issues I often hear about in the Buena Vista and Chaffee County communities are that of the need for “smart growth” and affordable housing. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the two are rarely part of the same conversation and often times seem to be considered two issues isolated from each other. There is a perception, likely correct, that the more thoughtfully designed a community becomes, the more desirable it becomes and therefore the more valued and expensive it becomes, thus pricing lower income families out of the picture. Without making considerations for affordable housing while simultaneously seeking to demonstrate smart growth values, lower income families will inevitably be priced out of our community.

By many measures the population of our community will grow significantly over the coming decade and there is not much that can be done to prevent it. With this in mind, we must consider how we can thoughtfully guide this growth. According to wikipedia:

“Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in the center of a city to avoid urban sprawl; and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, streets that work for everyone, mixed-use development with a range of housing choices.

Smart growth values long-range, regional considerations of sustainability over a short-term focus. Its goals are to achieve a unique sense of community and place; expand the range of transportation, employment, and housing choices; equitably distribute the costs and benefits of development; preserve and enhance natural and cultural resources; and promote public health.”

By its nature, smart growth also embraces values of efficient design and is more commonly starting to include ideas of green building in its approach as well.

The wikipedia entry for affordable housing reads,

“In the United States and Canada, a commonly accepted guideline for housing affordability is a housing cost that does not exceed 30% of a household’s gross income…. When the monthly carrying costs of a home exceed 30–35% of household income, then the housing is considered unaffordable for that household.”

A recent post on NewWest.net by architect Kent Means states, “The average national prices of natural gas and heating oil have risen by 150 percent in the past ten years (US Energy Information Administration). The average national median income has risen by only 12 precent in those same ten years and peaked in 1999 (Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, based on the US Census). If the trends for energy and income continue at the same rate as the last ten years, we may see the energy for homes taking 18 percent of the average family income.”

Considering all of these ideas together, one realizes that energy efficient living and affordable housing can no longer be mutually exclusive concepts.

In a 2001 article posted on the National Housing Institute website, Danielle Arigoni writes that conflicts in the past have suggested “that smart growth and affordable housing advocates are necessarily on opposing sides of an “either/or” debate – either plan future growth consciously or create more affordable housing. It’s a false choice, though. At their core, smart growth and affordable housing are not only compatible, but complementary, and the two movements are starting to find shared policy agendas and ways to work together.”

At this point, the most visible examples of smart growth type developments in our part of the valley are of the higher end sort and certainly would support the belief that these developments are exclusive of affordable housing. I greatly appreciate these developments for what they are adding to the community, but I also feel very strongly that we must start to apply these concepts to lower cost housing. The challenge I think though is defining where these two concepts meet in the middle.

I believe that through intentional, thoughtful design, there can be some good examples of how affordable housing and smart growth practices overlap. To start with, new homes can be built to be much more efficient which in turn will help to lower the ongoing monthly cost of energy bills. If you are concerned about the cost to build rising due to using more efficient materials, consider building smaller homes. (Do we really need all of that stuff?) Another overlap is that if affordable housing were to be built closer to urban centers, residents would not have to get in their cars and drive so far which would help reduce the need to have multiple cars (thus saving on fuel, insurance, and car maintenance). A good side benefit to this is that people would be out walking and biking more, getting exercise without even having to think about it – something we could all use a little more of.

Ultimately though, I don’t think it is just a matter of manipulating the built environment, but more significantly it is a matter of changing some of the ways we do things as a society. Some of the solutions to both the smart growth and the affordable housing issues will require a full blown shift in how we all choose to live our lives. The less stuff you buy, the less money you spend to buy it, the less space in your house you need to pay for to build to house it, and the less area you have to pay for on a constant basis to heat and cool. In addition to what people can do as individuals, we as communities must do a better job of looking at the big picture and acting on longer term vision.

I want the people who live here to be people who love this place, regardless of their income – senior citizens, school teachers, high net worth individuals, ranchers, retired surgeons, low income workers and young families alike. With that in mind, we must consider two important ideas. First, we have to make it so that the people who love this place can stay in this place – no matter who they are and how much money they have. This is where the affordable housing comes in. Secondly, we as a community must make decisions that will allow this place to continue to be one worth loving – especially in the wake of the oncoming population growth. The mountains will always be there, but the more vulnerable parts of our environment such as the watershed and river, the fertile soils, and the built environments, are all at risk of pollution, erosion, and careless development. This is where smart growth comes in.

Clearly these are both HUGE issues that require much thought, time, and education. It is reasonable to me that in many cases they have been approached as isolated concerns but I now believe it is time to consider them as interrelated. Choosing to build “green” is no longer a luxury of the middle and upper class. With oil prices quickly reaching new heights and even the possibility that global warming and limited fossil fuel sources could be a reality, it makes sense for everyone to try to live more conscientiously. It is up to individuals, government policy, and creative entrepreneurs to help achieve the coming together of these two ideas and make their blending a reality. I feel that it is time for our community to grapple with and come to understand the overlapping needs of these two issues and to create lasting solutions.

Overrun by Tourists

Seeking a break from what has been a long Buena Vista winter, my husband and I decided last week to take a short trip out to Moab, Utah for a spell of some warmer climes. What we did not realize until we got there was that just about every body else who lives within a six hour drive of Moab had the same idea as we did.

The morning after our arrival we drove down Main Street (Hwy 191) in search of breakfast. I instantly felt overwhelmed with what I saw. The street was jam packed with SUVs and trucks parked along the sides of the road full of mountain bikes, dirt bikes, kayaks, and trailers hauling jacked up 4×4 trucks. I’d guess that three out of four license plates adorning the vehicles came from somewhere other than Utah. I saw two from as far as British Columbia and others from the likes of Maine and Virginia, and still many more from Colorado and Nevada. People were everywhere. In that moment, I could not help but wonder where all the Moab localers were and what they thought of their town having this many visitors at once.

There are some interesting similarities between Moab and Buena Vista. Both are fairly remote towns surrounded by significant outdoor adventure opportunities. Moab is sandwiched between two truly spectacular national parks – Arches and Canyonlands. Buena Vista is directly adjacent to the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. With eight mountain peaks rising higher than 14,000 feet, it has the highest average elevation of any wilderness area in the lower 48 states. Moab serves as the put in for the well known Cataract Canyon whitewater trip on the Colorado River. Buena Vista plays host to nearby Brown’s Canyon, The Numbers, and many other classic stretches of the Arkansas River. Both towns have extensive mountain biking opportunities as well as areas designated for motorized off-road back country access. The towns are both of modest size. In the 2000 census, Moab had a population of 4,800 and BV had 2,200 in town proper with many more in the outlying areas.

Some may say that Moab offers the slightest bit more than Buena Vista, but all in all, I think they are quite comparable. When I stop to consider that Moab is a four and a half hour drive from Salt Lake City and five from Denver, while BV on the other hand is only two hours away from Colorado Springs and an additional half hour away from Denver, it causes me to want to question whether BV is just a few years away from a similar tourist fate like that of Moab.

Upon our arrival into Moab we where expecting to see a built environment made to match the grandeur of the stunningly beautiful and dramatic red wind gate sandstone that accompanied our drive for much of our way in. Instead we were greeted by hotels and motels with tacky road signs and cheap construction lining the highway for a mile leading into town. In seeing “for sale” signs for other commercial properties dotting the highway, I could not help but wonder what the next graceless edifice would be to go up, removing just one more bit of soul from such an extraordinary place and to imagine the parade of buildings that in 30 or so years will be nothing more than rapidly dilapidating eyesores. I could not help but imagine how it compares to the the potential future of our own Highway 24.

There has been so much talk and thought lately in the Buena Vista community about “smart growth” with regards to the potential of incoming permanent and semi-permanent residents, but what has been thought of with regards to the oncoming tourist industry? Almost without exception I get the impression that tourists coming in to our community is a good thing. I have always agreed with that outlook for the most part and still do. But now, after seeing how the heart of Main Street Moab has been overrun by tourists and how in some ways I think Moab has welcomed its tourist industry without enough forethought, I have to wonder what may end up happening in BV if we don’t more actively consider this issue.

At times it seems we are desperate to have any economic help we can get to vitalize our town. Lets consider how we want tourism to impact our town and where. Lets put standards into place before this exponential growth continues further. Better sign codes is a great place to start, but it is just the beginning. In addition, lets support those who are making efforts to establish clearly defined uses for trails in our back country. How do we create a culture within our tourists of deeply caring about Buena Vista and the surrounding areas, not just seeing it as a place for disposable fun?

So, is Moab just a few years ahead of us? If so, where did they go wrong and where did they go right? My next post will be about the many wonderful things that I observed in Moab that can serve as inspiration to us.

Choices for Sustainable Living – Part 1b

I came out of the Choices for Sustainable Living meeting in Salida last Wednesday with a whole new array of thoughts attempting to organize themselves in my head. As I had anticipated, everyone sitting at the table all pretty much agreed with the idea that we must as a society work toward better sustainability. What struck me though were some of the responses to the very first and only question of the evening:

When it comes to sustainability, are you a pessimist or an optimist?

Choices for Sustainable Living – Part 1a

Tonight is the first Choices for Sustainable Living discussion to be held in Salida. This is an eight part course sponsored by GARNA and created by the Northwest Earth Institute. It will likely be the only one I will attend as we are working to get a group together for here in Buena Vista. I would like to reflect on some of the ideas that occurred to me from the homework articles before I go because I am curious to discover how my thoughts will be influenced by the upcoming discussion.