Like many communities in the rural west, Bonner County is experiencing a severe shortage of workforce and affordable housing.
Most local residents have stories of friends or family who can no longer afford to rent, nor to purchase a home at the current market prices. Meanwhile, businesses are hurting for employees who either cannot move here nor remain in the area due to the gap between prevailing wages and the high cost of housing.
Project 7B and Kaniksu Land Trust (KLT) are among organizations in the community searching for solutions. These two coordinated a panel of speakers to discuss one potential tool to address this situation: housing provided through collaboration with community land trusts (CLTs). See the conversation below.
One of the panelists was Michael Brown, an expert on community land trusts. Brown has spent his last 40 years working with Burlington Associates with a focus on establishing and supporting community land trusts. Brown also leads the Headwaters Community Housing Trust, a nonprofit that is tackling similar issues in Bozeman, Montana. The group has just unveiled their first CLT project: Bridger View.
Community land trusts are one housing strategy that is being employed in a number of communities facing the same challenges that Bonner County is currently experiencing.
Additional panelists included KLT Executive Director Katie Cox and local planner Erik Brubaker. The panel was facilitated by Lisa Gerber of Big Leap Creative. Gerber’s podcast, Breaking Trail, has tackled the subject of growth and affordability in recent episodes.
This event was made possible through a grant from the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force and with support from the Selkirk Association of Realtors and the Bonner Community Housing Agency.