Workforce housing comes to Sun Valley

The City of Ketchum, in Idaho's Blaine County, has just approved an ordinance to consider a former railroad right-of-way now owned by the city, for a possible workforce housing demonstration project. The newly-created Ketchum Community Development Corporation will carry out the feasibility study. Once a sleepy mining town, Ketchum today is best known as neighbor to resort and celebrity magnet Sun Valley.

Median family income in Ketchum is $73,750, well above the national median of $50,046. But home prices have been going up, and local officials are concerned they can't attract or keep workers who can't afford to live there. This article from the Bonner County Daily Bee explains the issue well:

Service-sector jobs that go wanting can cause annoyance for tourists, but leaving medical, emergency and educational positions unfilled poses a greater threat to year-round residents. And it is this part of the workforce, according to [affordable housing group Executive Director Rebekah] Helzel, that will write Ketchum's future.

"We're talking about policemen, firemen, nurses and teachers -- the people who are critically important to the health of any community -- who can't even afford to work here," she said. "We don't want this to be a modern-day version of the gold rush, where we end up as an abandoned resort community."

Interesting that Helzel focuses on service sector jobs, exactly the area I think our new New Deal needs to focus on.

The concept of "workforce housing" has grown in recent years, as people who earn what is considered a decent, middle-class wage can't afford to buy or even rent in more communities. For more info, check out this video from housing advocates in Albuquerque, New Mexico, explaining the value and importance of workforce housing.

Image credit: City of Ketchum

Comments

[Bronwyn Mauldin]

Welcome to readers arriving here from Sun Valley Councilman Nils Ribi's blog, and from Topix.net.

Rebekah Helzel, who's quoted in this post, sent me a job description this morning for Executive Director of the ARCH Community Housing Trust in Ketchum. Visit my Workforce Developments Jobs page to read more.