What We Need: The City has several policies in place that encourage the development of affordable housing. What is still needed is an aggressive effort to develop partnerships that ensure that affordable housing (for both low and middle income families) is actually built and that our community offers access to affordable child care, transportation, and utilities.

Affordability is top of mind for many people in Ashland - as it is for people in other communities across the Pacific Northwest. The people of Ashland have consistently invested in parks, schools, and services. In the process, we’ve created a sweet little town and a lot of people want to live here.

That demand has driven housing prices up significantly over the last twenty years. The median cost of purchasing a home in Ashland has gone from $220,000 in 2000 to $630,000 in the summer of 2022, yet median income is only $58,364 a year (US Census Bureau 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates).

Housing availability for renters is also a serious issue. We have a very low vacancy rate for rental housing in town and rents have been skyrocketing as a result. Chronic housing stress isn’t good for individuals, families, or communities.

To address the issue fully, we need to define it. Affordable housing is a specific term used in government programs to ensure that people with low income have housing. It includes efforts to develop multi-family housing, HUD’s Section 8 housing subsidy program, and other direct housing supports. Some of that housing is in the pipeline in Ashland and we need to support the development of even more.  

When we are talking about housing that a teacher, firefighter, or similar profession or trade can afford, that is something entirely different, but also important, particularly if we want to maintain the character of Ashland as a family friendly community.

This issue is a much harder nut to crack because government housing programs do not generally address this. Other communities in the U.S. are grappling with this, though, and we can leverage their efforts as we determine how to develop some amount of housing stock that remains affordable for middle income people.

The City of Ashland updated the Housing Element of our Comprehensive Plan, including completing a Housing Needs Analysis. I worked to ensure that the the content of this update integrated with our climate goals. Too often, affordable housing has been build as cheaply as possible with devastating consequences over the long-term for tenants who struggle to pay the utility bills to keep a drafty, cheap home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

The City is now developing a Housing Production Strategy building on the good work of the Housing Needs Analysis. This strategy will include policy recommendations as well as partnerships and programs that will help Ashland move forward in addressing this gap in housing that the open market simply will not fill.

We can create more affordable housing that is good for the climate and less expensive over time for tenants if we work together with local builders and get creative with financing options.

We must also address the other issues of affordability, including child care, transportation, and utility payments. Weatherization programs designed to address the climate crisis can be focused first on low-income housing to help lower their utility bills and make their homes more comfortable. Other synergies can be found if

we know what issues we are trying to solve as we determine what to do with sites, such as Briscoe School and the B Street Yard. I was pleased to bring forward to Council a proposal to issue an RFP for local partners to come forward to help develop modest units above the Hargadine parking structure.

Progress

In the meantime, we are seeing some project move forward. The apartment complex has been finished on the corner of Park and Siskiyou, a housing development is going in on South Mountain Street with some affordable units, supportive housing is being constructed on Ashland Street, and Council approved including additional housing in the Croman Mill master plan. There are several other larger housing developments at various stages of approval as well.

Implementing the Housing Production Strategy when it is ready will be key to addressing this need, and it is also critical that we work with community partners to ensure that childcare is available in the community and that residents have the ability to weatherize their homes to reduce ongoing energy costs.