Latest news with #UtahWorkforceHousingAdvocacy
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Cox: Utah's housing crisis demands tough conversations with cities
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Thursday he is preparing to have 'uncomfortable, hard' conversations with cities this year about building more high density housing. As the closing keynote speaker at Stanford University's Abundance Agenda policy forum, Cox said the state is ready to use a more hands-on approach after struggling to get cities to make municipal affordable housing plans. 'We tried to do it the nice way, and if you want us to do it the heavy way we'll do that too,' Cox said. 'I'm okay being the bad guy on this one.' Cox recognized that cities have had a lot to keep up with: during the past two years since Cox launched his initiative to catalyze 35,000 starter homes by 2028 the Legislature has approved at least 15 bills reforming zoning, financing and inspection for affordable homes. One of the most significant pieces of legislation would make $300 million in public investment funds available to help local lenders offer low-interest loans for developers building affordable homes. The other reforms specifically mentioned by Cox would allow condominiums to qualify for these low-interest loans and would update litigation protection around condos to decrease insurance costs. 'I'm at the stage where I'm just throwing everything against the wall and seeing if anything sticks and actually makes a difference,' Cox said. As he has on a number of other occasions, Cox touted Utah's streak of No. 1 rankings which he said were the result of residents' ability to reject zero-sum thinking. But, Cox said, the biggest obstacle to addressing Utah's housing crisis might be public opinion. While Utahns worry about their children not being able to afford to live near them, Cox said, that fear is not always tied to an understanding that affordability follows from increased supply. Speaking to students, scholars and policy advocates, Cox highlighted a recent appropriation Utah lawmakers made for a public opinion campaign about the importance of high density construction like the Daybreak development in South Jordan. 'Showing some real wins, some places where people love to live where there's actual density just helps change that narrative,' Cox said. 'I think we just need to do better PR when it comes to to building and growth.' In 2025, the Utah Legislature gave $1 million to Utah Workforce Housing Advocacy, a non-profit trying to raise awareness about affordable housing through its Demand More Supply initiative. A year earlier, the Legislature gave another $1 million to the organization. Utah Workforce Housing Advocacy was created in 2023 by Craig Weston, a high-end developer; Derek Brown, later elected as Utah attorney general; Matt Lusty, Cox's campaign manager; and Steve Waldrip, later appointed as Cox's senior housing adviser, who remains a member of the unpaid board. 'I've learned that that we need to do better on the messaging side of this, trying to get the public on our side I think is really important,' Cox said. 'Our big focus has been on our kids and grandkids.' Utah's founding was based on the positive-sum mindset of pioneers settling an unwelcoming land, Cox said in his opening remarks. In order to maintain the state's success he said residents will need to prioritize abundance by rejecting 'false choices' between growth and quality of life. Cameron Diehl, the executive director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, has worked closely with the Legislature in recent years to bring down housing costs while maintaining local control. On Thursday, Diehl pointed out, the Wasatch Front Regional Council considered five station area plans in Draper, Taylorsville and West Jordan around transit stops, looking to accommodate 15,000 housing units. 'Cities want to see more affordable home ownership opportunities,' Diehl said. 'But we plan for housing, we don't build the housing, and we can't control the market forces.'
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Utahns agree housing is a problem. What they don't agree on is why, new survey finds
More than two-thirds of Utahns believe the state is dealing with serious or even crisis-level housing issues, according to a new survey from Envision Utah. But they're not so sure why. 'They're kind of all over the map,' said Ari Bruening, Envision Utah's president and CEO. 'No. 1, there's just a lot of confusion. Why is (housing) so expensive? People just don't really know and they point to a wide variety of causes.' The nonprofit, focused on growth-related issues, surveyed 601 Utah adults along the Wasatch Front, the Wasatch Back and in southwest Utah last September, asking them to rate the significance of more than a dozen potential causes of the state's housing problem. More than half of respondents assigned high levels of blame to rising interest rates (67%), construction costs (58%), developer or landlord greed (57%), or too many people moving to Utah (53%). But only 35% did the same for what's seen as a root cause for Utah's housing crisis, simply not having enough housing available. The survey found only a slight majority agree that Utah needs 'to build more homes and increase the overall number and availability of homes and apartments in the state,' while 21% disagreed and 26% had no opinion either way. Yet Utah's housing shortfall is expected to reach 153,000 homes and apartments by 2030. Gov. Spencer Cox, in his recent State of the State address, once again called for building 35,000 single-family starter homes priced under $400,000 over the next few years. And a statewide initiative urging Utahns to 'Demand more supply,' that includes TV commercials featuring children was recently launched by another nonprofit, Utah Workforce Housing Advocacy. 'To ensure that the American Dream stays alive and well in Utah, we must add housing supply to the market,' said Steve Waldrip, the governor's senior advisor for housing strategy and a member of the advocacy's executive committee. 'That's why our campaign is focused on raising awareness of the core problem of high home prices — not enough supply,' Waldrip said. For Bruening, it's pretty simple. The housing shortage means builders can choose 'to build whatever they want, so they're going to build something that has the greatest return,' he said. 'If the market were functioning better, they'd have to build something more in line with what people can afford.' 'I would love to see more people just understand that basic lack of supply issue,' Bruening said. 'If we can get our supply to match our demand better, prices should come down across the board.' The survey showed 34% of Utahns living in non-rural areas believe the state is 'in a major housing crisis,' while 35% say Utah is 'facing serious housing challenges, but it's not a crisis." Another third are less concerned, with 15% acknowledging there are housing challenges in Utah but with limited impacts, and 11% saying the state's housing situation is fine and 4%, great. However, the need to address supply and demand became more obvious to the 36 Utahns who participated in a week-long online focus group held in October by Envision Utah to better understand how Utahns perceive housing. Among the focus group participants, the number who said they were 'extremely concerned' about housing doubled, as did the number who saw it as 'extremely important' to address housing challenges. Bruening said the extra attention helped clarify the problem. 'The more they thought about it, the kind of simple supply and demand dynamics became clearer to them. We just need more homes,' he said. 'I think it just took the time of thinking about it.' The biggest surprise in the survey for Bruening was the ranking ensuring low-income Utahns can afford to live in neighborhoods with good schools and economic opportunity as the most important housing goal for Utah. That was chosen as one of the top three housing goals by 49% of survey respondents, followed by providing affordable homes to the very poor and homeless, then to seniors, those with disabilities and veterans. Having affordable starter homes for young families was a top three pick by just 32%, and having enough to ensure that future generation of Utahns don't move out of state was ranked that high by 27%. 'I thought that people would say starter options for young people. Instead, they said low income families,' Bruening said, calling that encouraging. 'I think here's a little narrative out there that people want to keep low income people out of their neighborhoods.' While public officials often emphasize the need for young people starting out to have the opportunity to buy a home, he said the survey results suggests the public is more behind affordable housing, including rental units, for low income Utahns. 'I don't know that people are saying, 'I don't care about young families.' But it does suggest that they care even more about low income people,' Bruening said. 'Maybe that's a messaging piece policymakers and others ought to pick up on.'
