Utah housing affordability in 'fight of our lives'

By Brice Wallace 

Mike Ostermiller has a vision of Utah’s future when it comes to housing affordability. In fact, he said last week, it exists today. And it’s not pretty.

Speaking during a breakout panel session focused on affordable housing and housing affordability issues at the Emerging Leaders Summit in Salt Lake City, Ostermiller suggested that Utah could be in for troubles faced elsewhere if those issues are not resolved.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

“Drive to California,” Ostermiller, an attorney, housing-related lobbyist and CEO of the Northern Wasatch Association of Realtors, told the crowd. “Call any of your friends or family members that live anywhere in California and ask them about housing. Ask them what they paid for their house. Ask them how much it costs for rent. Ask them how far away they have to live from where they work. Ask them what their property taxes are. And California is just one of many examples within a 10-hour drive of where we’re living right now.

“We know exactly what’s going to happen. In Utah, we’re in the fight of our lives here for affordable housing.”

A 2018 study commissioned by the Salt Lake Chamber and conducted by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute showed that housing prices in Utah were on the rise, threatening the cost of living, economic prosperity and quality of life in the state. Utah has 54,000 more families and individuals than there are housing units. Panelists said the problem is a supply-and-demand issue, with the rate of housing development unable to keep up with Utah’s population growth.

Cate Klundt, vice chair of the Emerging Leaders Initiative and who works with the Utah Association of Realtors, said one of the largest groups affected by the problem is people between 18 and 35 years old. “That means there are a lot of millennials and people in that age group that would like to buy a home but they can’t,” Klundt said.

One thing that has made Utah a unique place to live is its affordability, where people can own a home in a safe neighborhood with good schools, where people can feel good about raising a family and have a short distance to get to work, Ostermiller said. “And those days are coming to an end if we’re not careful,” he added.

“Will businesses want to come to Utah and relocate and bring economic vitality and big [numbers of] employees and bring cool products and services to Utah? Not as much, not if their employees don’t have a place to live. So, it’s, I think, of critical importance both to our quality of live, to our way of living, but also to our economy as a whole.”
Cameron Diehl, executive director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, said housing affordability and attainment issues are common in many U.S. metro areas. Among the causes are a construction industry hit hard during the recession and now with fewer workers than it had in 2007, immigration policy changes depressing the amount of available labor, higher costs of building materials and population growth. Utah, with the nation’s top economy, has a population growing every year the equivalent of the city of Taylorsville.

A recent study indicated Utahns liked the benefits of population growth but were worried about its effect on their quality of life. The goal, he said, should be to have housing choices available “for everybody in different life cycles.”

Much of last week’s panel discussion focused on local government entities. Ostermiller said Utah has been “way too slow” to get past “a really antiquated and obsolete and outdated way of thinking” that prefers only half-acre lots with single-family, detached housing. “If we have higher-density housing than that,” he said of that thinking, “it brings riffraff, it brings drug dealers, it adds a burden to traffic and schools that we can’t overcome, and so we just don’t want that in our communities.”

While many municipal and county leaders understand the need for more housing, and more types of housing, they are unwilling or unable to make it a reality because of vocal constituents opposed to certain types of housing, he said. Those elected leaders want to answer to their constituents and to stay in office, “so they’re faced with a really difficult situation and often they say, ‘I’m not going to do it, I’m not going to allow it,’” Ostermiller said.

Some flexibility for cities came last year in the form of SB34. The bill requires cities to use certain planning tools in their moderate-income housing plans in order to be eligible for state transportation dollars. Cameron noted that it contains 23 proven tactics available to cities. “SB34 has been a major game-changer in just the way that cities are approaching planning and integrating land use, housing and transportation,” he said.

However, panelists put the onus on all Utahns to learn more about housing affordability issues. Ostermiller said the government and the Legislature have roles to play, but people need to “get out there and start shaping opinions on this issue and start educating and start giving people, I think, helpful information.”

State Sen. Jacob Anderegg, R-Lehi, noted that cities and the state do not build affordable housing but are partners in the effort. “And if we try to solve the issue from a governmental side, we’re going to create a lot of problems,” he said. “If we let the market just do what it’s going to do, period, and not give any thought to it, we’re going to have a lot of problems.”

Anderegg encouraged people to be “a source and a resource” for others and said they should “disseminate correct information” to help address issues related to growth of the state’s population, currently on track to double in the next 35 years.

Brynn Murdock, policy and strategic communications specialist at the Utah House of Representatives, vice president of YIMBY (“Yes” In My Back Yard) Utah and formerly manager of the Salt Lake Chamber’s Housing Gap Coalition, suggested that people get involved through social media and learn about how housing developments are approved.

“We can stick our heads in the sand and pretend like it’s not happening and then we’re left with the consequences of a lack of planning, with poor air quality and transportation issues,” Murdock said. “But if we plan smart and all work together and can rally around this, we can maintain the quality of life that we have and keep Utah the place that we all love.”{/mprestriction}