Will housing in WA ever be affordable? Columbia Basin Badger Club tackles this question | Opinion
Simply stated, Washington state and the Tri-Cities face serious housing problems.
On the one hand, there is a housing shortage. The state Department of Commerce’s final housing projection released in March showed the state needs to add 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years, and more than half of these need to be affordable for low-income residents. An estimated 50,000 new units will need to be built annually to keep pace with expected population growth.
With thousands of new jobs coming into the Tri-Cities over the next five years as a result of such commercial investments made by Amazon, Darigold, Resers, Bounti and others, Tri-City housing needs will become even more acute. The tight inventory of available housing has brought record high home prices, and rising interest rates have put home ownership beyond the reach of many. Median Tri-City home prices are about $450,000 while median income is approximately $65,000.
The consequences are severe as many families, unable to afford the high prices, become displaced or forced into emergency housing or, worse, living on the street. According to the non-profit news site Crosscut, in early January of this year more than 25,000 people were living on the street or in emergency and transitional housing across the state, an 11 percent increase from 2020.
The bleak housing picture attracted the attention of the governor and the Legislature at the outset of this year’s legislative session in Olympia, and legislators committed to tackling the housing crisis and producing bipartisan solutions. By the time the session concluded on April 23, the Legislature had approved more than $1 billion to support housing and homelessness efforts over the next two years. Additionally, legislators passed bills that will increase housing density, speed up permitting, reduce construction backlogs, and address historical barriers to home ownership among people of color.
But, was it enough or at best a good start?
In an online forum at noon on Thursday, May 11, the Columbia Basin Badger Club will focus on the critical housing issue as a follow-up to our recent forum on homelessness. Our speakers will be first-term Rep. April Connors, R-Kennewick, who is a local realtor and a member of the Legislature’s Housing Committee. Jacob Gonzalez is Planning Manager for Pasco’s Community and Economic Development Department. Our third speaker will be Jet Richardson, an urban planner by training who currently heads the local office of Habitat for Humanity.
The presentations will address the housing picture locally and statewide, and assess recent legislative actions and local strategic planning. It should help our community see if progress is being made, both in Olympia and locally, toward solving the housing crisis.
You can register for this event, which will include a Q&A session, at columbiabasinbadgers.com to receive a confirmation and link to join the Zoom forum. Cost is $5 for nonmembers, while club members can join for free.
Retired Col. Felix Vargas of Pasco served both as an Army infantry officer and U.S. State Department foreign service officer. Assigned to Bosnia as a NATO officer in 1995-97, he helped to establish NATO programs in northern Bosnia to enable civilians displaced by the war to return to their homes or find new housing. He received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for his work.
