BUSINESS NEWS
2
Coast River Business Journal
Publisher’s Notebook
May 2021 Matt Winters
We must plan better to meet housing needs
A year ago Americans were still caught up in the throes of the Great
Toilet Paper Catastrophe of 2020. In most respects there never was an
actual problem and there certainly shouldn’t have ever been cause for
worry in Clatsop County, where Georgia-Pacifi c’s enormous Wauna Mill
turns out unimaginable quantities of consumer paper goods every day.
Thankfully, that particular weird overreaction fairly soon ran its
course and did no real harm, other than adding to anxiety in a year that
included many worse things to worry about.
Some strange product gaps persist. For example, it’s been more than
a year since any of the stores I shop has stocked the particular kind of
generic mint-fl avored antacid my wife and I prefer. Why should that be?
I don’t really care enough to investigate, and it probably just comes down
to many other people suff ering from 2020-21 indigestion snapping it up
before I get there. But it seems like the pandemic not only made lots of
people sick, but revealed every hidden vulnerability in the whole world
of economic interdependence.
Among the many peculiar ways in which the pandemic disrupted
ordinary supply chains, none has more genuinely serious consequences
than the fevered lumber market, along with other building and construc-
tion-related products like appliances and windows. Even things most of
us don’t often think about, such as solar panels, have increased in price
and require careful logistical scheduling. The cost of skilled labor —
another major component in the price of any house — is also way up.
As you will read in CRBJ editor Emily Lindblom’s excellent survey
of how local contractors are coping, the cost of lumber and materials is
playing an oversized role in driving up the bottom line for new construc-
tion and remodels. This is a pressing issue in these Columbia-Pacifi c
counties where housing has already been at an ever-increasing premium
for years. Residents newly arriving from other places make important
contributions to our economy and community life, while fi nding aff ord-
able housing is a dire problem for many who grew up here and want to
join the ranks of homeowners. We need more housing at every price
point.
There is a realistic though still hypothetical hope that material prices
will begin trending downward. COVID-related slowdowns in saw-
mills and factories should gradually abate, the labor market should sta-
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respond to increasing demand by ramping up supply. As a side issue,
many assume that President Biden will eventually lower Trump admin-
istration tariff s on Chinese-made appliances and other building-related
products — tariff s that are actually taxes paid by American consumers.
When it comes to lumber, it bears remembering that this especially
Pacifi c Northwest industry has been struggling for decades — most
recently hammered by the housing crash a decade ago. Restrictions on
harvest that began in the 1990s mean there are now far fewer producers
competing for our business and meeting the demand for new housing.
How odd it is to live in one of the world’s greatest tree-growing regions
and fi nd ourselves in such a pinch for 2x4s.
Sawmill workers like my grandfather could aff ord to pay off mort-
gages on their own comfortable wood-frame homes. That’s becoming an
elusive dream for today’s blue-collar and service industry workers here
on the Northwest coast. As we emerge from the COVID disaster, we
need to really consider as a nation how best to plan for our own future,
with enough walls and roofs for everyone.
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