Staff is seeking Council's direction regarding a resolution declaring a Housing Crisis, prioritizing Affordable Housing as an investment within the City’s work plan, and requests local collaboration on equitable and innovative solutions to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing in Flagstaff.

On October 29, 2020, City Council considered a F.A.I.R item on a citizen’s petition titled “Housing Crisis Emergency Declaration” and unanimously approved moving it forward for further discussion. Housing Staff, along with other city divisions and Devonna McLaughlin, the submitter of the petition and Chief Executive Officer of Housing Solution of Northern Arizona, collaborated on a draft resolution declaring a Housing Crisis for City Council's review. The draft resolution calls for action on 7 housing items related to planning, community education, programmatic solutions, and the overall prioritization of housing efforts and needs within the City as an organization.

The lack of affordable and workforce housing in the Flagstaff community has been a continuing problem for over 50 years. Data shows housing costs, pushed higher by limited supply and external demand, have exceeded the buying and renting power of our workforce for decades while income remained stagnant. In 2017, 54.6% of respondents to the Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona (ECoNA) Housing Attainability for the Flagstaff Workforce survey stated they are considering leaving Flagstaff because of housing costs. In addition, 43.6% of people plan to leave Flagstaff in the “next few years”.
 
Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona and the City of Flagstaff’s Housing Section co-created an infographic titled “Affordable Housing Needs Assessment for the Flagstaff Community”. The infographic sources data from the 2018 American Community Survey, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Council for Community and Economic Research, and Flagstaff’s Multiple Listing Service which reveals that;

1. 49% of all Flagstaff households are low income.
2. 22,373 Flagstaff community members are living housing cost-burdened, meaning that households are paying more than 30% of their monthly income toward housing costs.
3. The cost of housing is 33.5% higher and the cost of living is 13.4% higher in Flagstaff compared to national averages.
4. Since 2010, the median sales price of a home rose by 53%, while Area Median Income (AMI) rose by 14%.

COVID-19 has created greater instability among vulnerable populations experiencing or at-risk of homelessness and said instability is projected to increase due to the long-term effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations. Now more than ever, households are just one life event away from eviction and/or foreclosure, increasing housing insecurity.
 
From every crisis, an opportunity is created. The Housing Section, local housing providers, and housing practitioners are ready for the call to action should a Housing Crisis be declared by City Council in the Flagstaff Community.