September 21 Meeting: What is Affordable Housing, and How to Bring it to Leelanau County?

Northport and Leelanau county, like much of the United States, have an affordable housing problem. We constantly read, and hear from our neighbors, that it is hard for young people, teachers, and workers, both seasonal and year-round, to find places to live that do not eat up unmanageable portions of their budgets.

But what is affordable housing? Does it refer to a specific kind of dwelling -- a "starter home," a manufactured home, a multi-unit apartment building? Does it refer to a specific form of ownership or rental contract, perhaps subsidized or income-linked? Or does it just mean more housing in general?

And how do we get it here? What are the impediments and how can they be overcome? Who are the players working on this problem now? What are their visions? How can we help them? Or do we already have all the housing we need?

These and any related topics will be open for discussion in our September 21st meeting. We plan to have representatives of some housing activists at the meeting, but we have not yet finalized the list. There is still time for suggestions and invitations!

Update (9/14)

Featured guests for September 21 will be Yarrow Brown from Housing North and Beth Verhay from New Community Vision.

Here are some background readings on local and national affordable housing issues:

• An assessment of local housing needs from Housing North
• New Community Vision website
• Housing North website
• Additional background reading on local housing issues
• National: Summary of Biden administration housing policies
• National: Manufactured Housing, the Ugly Duckling of Affordable Housing
• https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/how-select-town-rich-wont-gentrify-and-ruin