Idaho Statesman: Boise Mayor Lauren McLean: How Boise is beating the odds on affordable housing | Opinion

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, Idaho Statesman

I will never forget my first home in Boise. I was six months pregnant with our first child and just 23 years old. Only a few years out of college, we found a home our young family could afford, and I can still feel the promise and hope of those early days.

That feeling — of finding a good place to live within reach of your budget — should be attainable for every Boisean, for every family, in every neighborhood. But in recent years, and in the wake of a recession that brought home construction to a halt, followed by a national housing crisis and a global pandemic, an affordable place to live in Boise seemed to be slipping away forever.

But in the face of incredible challenges, Boise is beating the odds.

We’re creating more homes for more people, even as our sister cities have slipped further behind. An influx of new homes and apartments has started to stabilize housing prices, and we are no longer seeing the staggering rent increases of the last few years. The reality is, however, that this new construction alone won’t be enough to ensure that we have enough housing in our community for folks at every income.

For the past three years and in close work with our City Council, I have put city investments to work, jumpstarting more homes affordable at Boise budgets. We have 209 new homes that will be move-in ready this year, charging rents affordable to low-income households. Another 348 affordable homes will be completed next year, with an additional 156 in 2025.

In total, we expect to create 1,200 affordable units of housing — homes of all kinds for all kinds of people — in just four years.

These “units” are truly homes, places to live in all shapes and sizes throughout our city: single-family homes in the West Bench on land provided by the Collister United Methodist Church, apartments above vibrant retail spaces at 6th and Grove, future homes for over 100 families on the State Street bus line and within walking distance of a grocery store, schools and a park.

And with the help of the affordability incentives included in our modern zoning code, they can also be accessory dwelling units, cottage courts, townhomes, duplexes and triplexes that blend gently and organically into a neighborhood’s fabric, just like they did in the Boise of 100 years ago.

Every one of these homes is a part of someone’s Boise story.

I hope that my own daughter, now also 23, will someday be able to find a good place to live in Boise when she’s ready to come home. And through continued focus and relentless work, I am confident that Boise can keep beating the odds.

We can keep this place safe, welcoming and affordable for every essential person in our community: the teachers and firefighters, the mechanics and servers, our nurses and janitorial staff.

For every Boise kid ready to come home, every hopeful young family just starting out. For every Boisean. For everyone.

Read the original op-ed here.