Thank you to the 1,500+ people who joined us for the Polk County Housing Trust Fund's 10th Annual Affordable Housing Week where we kicked off a momentous effort to plan for our region's housing issues. On Friday, we culminated the week of educational opportunities by presenting the Capital Crossroads Workforce Housing Study Strategy Report to area residents and leaders. You can view the video presentation here.
The week was filled with data, information and insights into our current and future housing needs. 3 key takeaways from the week...
1 - Metro leaders are committed to solving this issue -- together.
Throughout the week, we heard from City Council members, Mayors and County Supervisors about the importance of our region working together.
"The only way to tackle this problem is to address it on a regional level"-- Russ Trimble, West Des Moines City Council
"Where people live and work needs to be planned for"-- Susan Judkins, Clive City Council
"Regional Affordable Housing is a critical initiative for all municipalities."-- Renee Hardman, West Des Moines City Council
"A Regional Affordable Housing Plan is important to Urbandale because it will ensure that Urbandale can continue to thrive."-- Bridget Carberry-Montgomery, Urbandale City Council.
2 - Area residents are eager to advocate for affordable housing.
Over 1500 area residents engaged with information about their community throughout this week of virtual events. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we shared infographics for 11 area cities that include data on the housing stock, annual household income, and percentage of income paid towards housing costs.
Update! This information is now available here: https://www.herewegrow.city/communities
3 - Data is a powerful tool.
This was a week that showed us the importance of data in how we understand our housing climate. We broadcasted live the data that was compiled for our Metro communities. You can view those live broadcasts on Facebook and Youtube.
We also learned about additional data tools including the Urban Land Institute's Home Attainability Index and unevictIA. We look forward to using these new tools to learn even more about the needs of Polk County families, and to better serve those needs in the years to come.