Street roots., June 01, 2018, Page 7, Image 7

Street Roots
June 1-7, 2018
Rural Housing
Page 7
COOS COUNTY, from page 5
some of his colleagues, however, have found
finding decent living quarters challenging.
After spending much of his career as an
attorney, in the private sector and as a state
lawmaker, Lehman now heads Oregon Coast
Community Action, the area’s primary social-
service provider, as he nears retirement
“I have struggled here, when I’ve hired
some middle-income positions,” he said.
“They’ve struggled to find someplace to live.
In fact, we lost somebody because they
couldn’t find anyplace. They headed back to
Nevada.”
In light of this growing problem, the
county convened a housing task force, which
decided that step one should be to figure out
exactly what was causing the housing
shortage that everyone was talking about -
and what tactics could be employed to fix i t
Area businesses, nonprofits and
government agencies collaborated to hire
Buki’s consulting company, czbLLC, to
conduct this analysis and create the report
that the housing summit at the casino was
centered on.
PHOTO BY EMILY GREEN
CzbLLC, an urban planning firm,
As visitors drive south into North Bend on Highway 101, they may notice this dilapidated building for sale on the right
determined that much of the housing was
side o f the road. By strategically rehabbing old homes, outside consultants believe Coos Bay-North Bend can create a
run-down, uninhabitable, vacant, boarded-up
more welcoming appearance that would better attract the outside investment that the community so direly needs.
or otherwise appeared
abandoned. This, the
meaning they spend more than 30 percent of
between 1950 and 2010, to 73 in the years
consultants said, is not
their income on rent. The analysis found that
since.
COOS COUNTY
only a sign that people
becoming cost-burdened is what 90 percent of
Wetland water issues in the area, along
in the area lack pride,
low-income renters in Coos County have
with high construction costs, the decline of
Living in poverty: 17.5 percent
but it also repels
done.
the local construction industry, miles of red
Mean renter wage: $10.57
economic investment
“We have a huge population that’s spending tape built into local zoning and building codes,
from outside interests.
Renters paying more than half
and high development fees, all make building
50 percent or more of their income j u s t to
Coos Bay and North
working-class homes in Coos County
have a place to live,” said‘Lehman, explaining
their income in rent: 1 out of 4
B e n d m ak e u p th e
u n a ttra c tiv e , e sp ecially w h e n you ca n build
that this forces fam ilies t o m ak e d e c isio n s
Students experiencing
largest population
vacation homes for close to the same amount
about whether to pay for rent, food, health
homelessness: 507 at some point
center in Coos County.
and sell them for much more.
care or transportation.
in the 2016-17 school year. That’s 1
The disparity is most visible on the drive
They are a couple miles
The findings of cbzLLC’s housing study are
south on Highway -540 to nearby Bastendorff
inland, situated around
out of every 20 students.
appâtent to those passing through North
Beach. Along the way is one distressed trailer
the bay rather than
Bend and Coos Bay on Highway 101.
park after another on the east side of the
along the ocean, like
Neighborhoods
are
a
patchwork
of
well-
Sources: 2012-16 American Community Survey
highway, and sitting opposite, are half million-
most
coastal
manicured
homes
mixed
with
inhabited-but-
five-year estimates, Census Bureau
dollar mini-mansion vacation homes that
communities Street
neglected properties where the paint is
Oregon Housing Alliance
overlook the bay to the west
Roots visited for this
chipping away and weeds reach up to the
What’s become a challenge for the
series on rural housing.
windows.
shrinking middle-class is an all-out disaster for
Given their location,
Outside of downtown Coos Bay and North
the county’s low-income, elderly and disabled
they have not
Bend’s urban renewal districts, where façade
residents.
encountered the
improvement programs have helped
Johnson said any negative mark on a
businesses spruce up their exteriors to create
massive transition of housing into the
background check makes finding housing
vacation rental market, however they are not
what are now appealing main streets, the
nearly impossible, from bad credit, having an
unscathed. There is a growing awareness of
buildings that house many non-touristy
eviction or criminal record, or even being a
businesses are in need of a good spray wash,
the area’s natural beauty, and it’s long been a
clean-cut young adult with no rental history.
hunting, fishing and crabbing destination.
updated signage and a fresh coat of paint
“So heaven help you if you’re homeless and
Although locals say that these days, they’re
“You have a lot of houses that look like
seeing more kayakers, surfers and stand-up
crap,” Buki told attendees. “And that is not an not clean cut,” she said.
But oddly, the public housing wait lists in
paddle boarders than hunters.
income issue, that’s a pride issue.”
Coos County are relatively short - just one
He argued that it takes very little capital to
Bandon, on the other hand, which lies
year. Many Oregon counties have wait lists in
mow the lawn, plant geraniums and touch-up
about 24 miles south of Coos Bay and is
excess of three years. And even with a
home to the world-famous Bandon Dimes Golf exterior paint
waitlist, the housing authority’s director,
Outsiders considering deals that could
Resort, also lies in Coos County and is a
Turner, said she often has trouble filling
boost the area’s flat economy would look for
popular tourist destination. While it’s a
vacant apartments.
30-minute drive away, many people who work
reasons to invest in the community when and
She said she often goes through 10 to 30
in Coos Bay, like Turner and Torres, live in
if they visit he said.
people on the list before she’ll find someone
“This is what we see,” he said as he
Bandon.
who will take one of the agency’s apartments
Buki and Eddington determined that
pointed up at an image of a battered and
or duplexes in its well-maintained public
between 2000 and 2016, the number of single
boarded-up duplex surrounded with
housing complexes.
family homes in Coos County that are either
dandelions gone to seed. “This is your
In some cases, people seeking assistance
vacant or vacation rentals increased by nearly
welcome m at”
are already housed and simply want to stay
1,400 - that’s a 77 percent jump.
where they are rather than take the option
They also concluded that renters with low
they’ve been given. It might not be in the
incomes are solving the availability issue in
A growing divide
town where they work or it might not be as
one of three ways: they take low-quality units,
There is new construction taking place, it’s
roomy as they would like, explained Turner.
which are often substandard in a market
just not within the economic reach of most
In those cases, they remain on the list until
where there is little incentive for landlords to
locals,
and
the
number
of
new
homes
built
make improvements; they double up with
See COOS COUNTY, page 9
each year has dropped from an average of 401
other renters; or they become cost burdened,