Housing for Working Families

Bulletin #1

April 15, 2005

You are one of a community of activists that we have identified, through references and referrals, in San Juan County. We are members of an ad hoc committee enlisted through the efforts of the Orcas Research Group to work with concerned citizens and the community land trusts on an initiative to provide housing for working families in San Juan County. This will be the first of a series of email messages that will be sent to you bi-monthly to keep you informed about progress toward solving this difficult problem.

Our objective is two fold. We first want to raise the awareness of citizens across the county regarding this issue and how “not doing anything” will dramatically and negatively impact our culture and well-being. Secondly, we would like to enlist your support both by communicating with your fellow citizens and perhaps joining us in this effort. After reading through this information, you can immediately provide us assistance by emailing to garrison@rockisland.com the names and contact information of friends and associates whom you believe should be placed on our mailing list.

It is important to understand the need. We have all heard stories and perhaps have first hand knowledge of families that are working two or three jobs in order to remain on the islands. In too many cases they have lost the battle and have moved away. We know now that these are more than just anecdotal stories. Since 1990 we have seen a major demographic change in San Juan County. Our population aged 25 through 44 has declined from 30% of the total population, typical of the USA and Washington State, to just 20% today. Our total resident workforce has declined from 51% of the population in 2000 to 44% today.

While low salaries are a problem, the cost of housing is a much bigger problem. Median house prices have increased at an average of 8% per year over the past 10 years. Recently, the increase has accelerated to 10% per year. To make matters worse, interest rates are increasing. Homeowners are caught between low wages and the increasing cost of housing.

Late last fall, we surveyed some of the employers on Orcas Island that provide our best jobs, those that not only pay a fair wage, but also pay benefits. These employers of infrastructure workers provide the vital services upon which we depend, teachers, law enforcement, fire fighters, utility workers and medical personnel. This study is now being extended to San Juan and Lopez Islands. In every case, these employers described a very serious problem of an aging work force and anticipated difficulty in hiring critical skills over the next 5 years. We are very much in competition with the mainland, not only to hire these critical skills, but also to retain them without a way to provide them with that most essential element of the American dream—a home of their own.

While many think of affordable housing in terms of low income, we now recognize that this problem extends to moderate and middle-income households. For example, for a family of 4, moderate income is defined as $48,000 to $57,000 and middle income is defined as $57,000 to $72,000. A moderate-income family can afford at most a $220,000 home while a middle-income family can afford at most a $280,000 home assuming 30 year, 6% fixed rate, 20% down mortgages. Today, there are very few houses available in San Juan County below $300,000 and there is presently no public assistance for these families.

To make this real, consider the cost of a three bedroom, two-bath home, the family standard for American housing. Today, there are only 4 houses listed in San Juan County under $300,000. Three are doublewide manufactured homes, two of which are in the Oaks on San Juan Island. The third is priced at $275,000 on Orcas Island. By comparison, there are over 50 homes listed at prices between $200,000 and $225,000 in the nearby communities of Bellingham, Mt. Vernon, and Anacortes.

Still, things have not reached the desperate state of communities like Nantucket, Aspen, Hilton Head, and other communities that waited too long to search for a solution. If we move quickly to apply both public and private financing to create an inventory of perpetually affordable homes, we may be able to solve this problem before it becomes impossible.

Our most recent publications will be posted at our website http://orcasresearch.org/ and you can contact us at any time at Losleben@rockisland.com or Garrison@rockisland.com

Signed,

Lee Sturdivant, San Juan Island

Paul Losleben and Steve Garrison, Orcas Island

Sandy Bishop, Lopez Island