<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3xWWfh_0zeIO74u00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3xWWfh_0zeIO74u00" width="1280" height="802" ><figcaption>Workers are seen on a construction site in rural Dublin, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)</figcaption></figure><p>Rural America has challenges that vary from landscape to landscape across this huge country. But some are more universal and rural housing availability and affordability is the one shared across geographies and populations. For too many rural communities the lack of affordable housing is negatively affecting their development. </p><h2>Understanding Rural Housing</h2><p>Distressed and remote rural communities are struggling with population loss and disinvestment. On the other hand, urban adjacent rural communities are growing and facing challenges of building enough new housing to meet demand. </p><p>Consider my high school hometown of Ogallala to illustrate some rural housing realities. Ogallala is located where Interstate 76 heads to Denver and Interstate 80 continues on to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in western Nebraska. As is the case throughout the Great Plains, both moisture and people thin out from east to west. Keith County (population 8,113) and its lead city of Ogallala (population 4,840) are rural, not remote, and have struggled to find prosperity since I graduated from high school in 1974. Housing is a huge issue in this community. </p><p>According to the most recent <i>American Community Survey,</i> there are 5,476 housing units in Keith County. About 71% are occupied, but 29% are vacant. Large numbers of vacant housing units are both a development threat, but also an opportunity. </p><p>Most of the occupied housing units are owner-occupied (69%) and the balance are renters (31%). The median housing value is just $128,000 and the median rent is $633. Compared to Denver’s metroplex just three hours down the road, housing costs are dramatically higher, and supply tight, particularly for working families. Understanding housing availability and affordability is key to rural housing solutions. I believe that repurposing vacant housing and undertaking infill on vacant lots with infrastructure is a core solution to my hometown’s housing needs. </p><h2>Importance of Rural Housing</h2><p>In our rural community economic development work over the past 50 years, when talking to rural leaders we explain the importance, and the difference between, the “essential” and “desirable” amenities. </p><p>Essential rural community amenities include access to health care, education, basic groceries, motor fuels, and housing. New housing stock is wonderful, but for rural communities the solution begins with understanding that existing housing stock is a key development asset. Understanding that every vacant lot with utilities, long unoccupied distressed downtown housing, and aging single-family homes are possibly one of the greatest development opportunities for any rural community. </p><h2>From Crisis to Solutions</h2><p>The good news is, across rural America, there are innovators demonstrating solutions to our rural housing challenges. They are creating right-sized and affordable housing options. They are meeting housing needs of a new doctor coming to town, building starter homes for young working families, or single-story housing for retirees. </p><p>One of my favorite communities is Stuart, (population 502), located in north central Nebraska. Twenty-five years ago, the community of Stuart was facing school consolidation and the loss of its public schools. They searched for solutions and decided that if they could create a family-friendly community, including the right kinds of housing, they could stabilize their population and keep their basketball team, the Broncos.</p><p>The City of Stuart, the Stuart Public Schools, and their development corporation came together and created a housing game plan. They learned about programs and raised local capital. Over these years they did infill housing, housing rehabilitation, and new subdivision housing for both families and retirees. Good news, it worked and Stuart’s population stabilized, and the Broncos are alive and well with a winning boys’ basketball team. </p><p>Keys to Stuart’s housing solutions included tapping into federal, state, and private housing programs. Pursuing more cost-effective housing rehab and infill, making optimal use of sunk utilities. But Stuart has also figured out how to build new housing. Their financing and building strategies include:</p><ul><li>Financing enough housing to attract builders.</li><li>Construction of small square footage housing with expansion potential once homeowners have equity.</li><li>Sourcing building materials locally through Stuart’s lumber yard. </li></ul><h2>Where There Is Housing, There Is Opportunity</h2><p>In today’s U.S. housing market, if you create housing, you will attract new residents just as Stuart has done. Three hundred miles to the west of Stuart is Sidney, Nebraska. Sidney’s rural innovators turned a housing crash into a housing boom. </p><p>In 2017 when Sidney lost Cabela’s , along with 2,000 corporate jobs in a community of 6,500. A housing bust ensued, with over 500 units showing up on the market. Within two years, Sidney was once again facing a housing shortage. Good housing at affordable prices attracted new residents from the Denver Metro, helping Sidney recover from the loss of the big outfitter. Today,making housing a development priority is fundamental to rural community success. </p><p><i>Don Macke calls America’s Great Plains home basing out of Lincoln, Nebraska. For the past 50 years Don has worked in community economic development throughout North America. He is transitioning to more research and writing as he retires from being a regional economist and project work.</i></p><p>Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.</p></div></body>

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Rural America has challenges that vary from landscape to landscape across this huge country. But some are more universal and rural housing availability and affordability is the one shared across geographies and populations. For too many rural communities the lack of affordable housing is negatively affecting their development. Understanding Rural...

Commentary: Rural Housing – Challenges and Solutions

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Rural America has challenges that vary from landscape to landscape across this huge country. But some are more universal and rural housing availability and

Commentary: Rural Housing – Challenges and Solutions

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