Boise and surrounding cities are going to need new housing to meet the demand of tens of thousands of new residents in the coming years.
Sharon Fisher reports from Boise, where officials are sounding alarms about the cost of housing.
"Much-needed workers are turning down jobs in Burley because they can’t find affordable housing nearby, says Jan Rogers, chief executive officer for Regional Economic Development for Eastern Idaho." Rogers spoke this week at the Idaho Housing and Finance Association’s Conference on Housing and Economic Development in Boise, where the concern over the region's housing prices were echoed by other speakers as well.
"Unprecedented" in-migration is pressuring the real estate market in Idaho, according to Fisher. "Boise Mayor Dave Bieter said he expects to see 50,000 new Boiseans in the next 20 years. That means 20,000 new homes, or 1,000 new housing units a year." While discussing some of the tough political choices the city will have to make while faced with the growth, Mayor Bieter offered up this memorable soundbite: "The only thing people hate more than sprawl is density."
FULL STORY: Panel: Affordable housing is critical to economic development
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