As a plan to address Ketchum’s affordable housing crisis moves forward, hired consultants are emphasizing the need for valley-wide collaboration.
Last year, the city hired the Boise-based consultancy Agnew Beck to develop its housing plan. Among its first steps, the firm surveyed about 5% of the Blaine County population, and learned, among other things, that 1% of respondents identified as being homeless.
“[The] census often misses that population of people who are living in cars or living in offices, etcetera," said Ellen Campfield Nelson, the consultancy’s project manager, during a presentation to Wood River Valley elected officials earlier this month.
The team also gleaned several housing trends through data analysis: the number of long-term rentals has declined, affordability has not improved and the number of seasonal and short-term rentals have increased.
It said these trends are not new; they've likely been consistent and worsening over the past 20 years.
And, though this part of the assessment was specific to Ketchum, the experts believe the trends are applicable to most of Blaine County, which they said is at a tipping point because housing demand is outpacing supply.
“There may be technically enough housing units for the households that exist, given average household size," Campfield Nelson said, "but the prices of those homes may not be matching up with household incomes.”
One of the group's next tasks is to get ballot language ready for the May election. City leaders plan on asking the community to dedicate some tourism tax dollars to housing, and potentially to raise that tax rate.
A group of leaders from throughout the county will also likely begin meeting together to approach the housing issue from a regional standpoint.
Ketchum is hosting open house forums at different Blaine County locations in the next week to discuss the housing action plan, beginning with a session at the Community Library on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Find reporter Rachel Cohen on Twitter @racheld_cohen
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