A letter from Jackson Hole Working:
JACKSON, Wyo. — Our housing issues need a voice. Your voice. One that recognizes that community interests do not need to be mutually exclusive. We can protect wildlife and create housing development opportunities for people who work and live here. We can do both of these at the same time.
A voice that recognizes we must support and create more opportunities to develop housing for this community to remain a community. We know we need health care workers, Teton County School District teachers and staff, grocery clerks, dental hygienists, snowplow drivers – every facet of our workforce. Let’s not forget that these people are also volunteers who make this community tick. Basketball coaches, Scouts leaders, sports referees, 4-H teachers, ushers at The Center, firefighters, board members – so many volunteer positions that make our community vibrant are filled by the people who work here – let’s help them live here too.
Because we are losing them. For decades, our workforce housing challenges meant we lost people, but now that pace is accelerated to a point where several multi-generational folks are worried if there will be a community left in five-to-ten years.
How will it benefit wildlife or our ecosystem when everyone who lives in Teton County, Wyoming, must drive out of the Valley for services like dental care, haircuts and vehicle maintenance? We must maintain a strong community where we have essential services and housing opportunities for the full spectrum of our workforce.
The Housing Department’s recent Regional Housing Needs Assessment findings, presented this past Monday, highlight these very issues. Their findings show that 5,300 units are needed to address our housing issues over the next five years, with 2,500 required in Teton County, Wyoming, alone.
In their survey, 91% of small businesses said they are understaffed, increasing from 65% pre-COVID. Of course, being understaffed is not new, but the increase and the amount of burnout affect employees’ and employers’ overall health and quality of life.
Development opportunities like Northern South Park are essential to addressing our housing needs along with other private sector and public-private partnership solutions. Now is the time to move forward on zoning these parcels and getting housing in the ground. Every year that goes by, hundreds of working families and individuals will leave Teton County for stable housing elsewhere, and we will not be able to replace them.
We do not need more studies, panels or focus groups. We already know the solution – meaningful housing development opportunities, zoning changes and funding.
Now is the time to support housing. Jackson Street Apartments, Northern South Park, E Kelly Avenue, Legacy Lodge, Flat Creek Apartments — many projects are coming on board that need voices for housing.
Housing will not move forward in a meaningful way without the public standing up and supporting it. If we do nothing, it will be too late once our community’s heart, its people, are gone. We can advocate for wildlife and traffic reduction and support workforce housing development throughout Teton County. This is not an either-or scenario, and we must address our needs for the future now.
