Lake Chelan Valley’s Affordable Housing Crisis
By Dennis Rahm
There’s no quick or easy solution on how to solve the problem of a lack of affordable housing options in the Lake Chelan Valley. That the problem is real can not be debated. To that end, the City of Chelan has commissioned the services of a nationally recognized authority on Affordable Housing to help develop strategies to address the issue.
Julie Brunner spent three days in the Lake Chelan Valley last week reviewing the local housing situation. During her visit, Brunner was kept busy with a total of 16 different meetings capped by a Community forum on Wednesday, April 25.
Consultant Julie Brunner Addresses Attendees at a Community Forum
Brunner met with a cross section of area organizations and individuals seeking input on the issue and will use the information as she prepares a Housing Needs Assessment for the Valley. Brunner talked with LakeChelanNow about the process of undertaking the compilation of the assessment data and shared some of what she has learned.
Click on the arrow below to hear the Julie Brunner Interview
During her stay in Chelan, Brunner participated in an employer round-table and met with Social Services representatives, builders, realtors as well as presenting at the last City Council meeting. Housing Need, Landlord, and Employer questionnaires were distributed and collected for use in compiling the Housing Needs Assessment report.
Brunner notes that no one thing will fix the problem of affordable housing options. The idea behind the assessment is to arrive at conclusions and then look at options to move forward and address the housing issues that have been identified.
Survey data will be collected over the next several weeks to be included in the final assessment. It is anticipated that Brunner will return to the area sometime in the Fall to report back on findings and look at possible next steps.
