The Lake Area Improvement Corporation, that fine embodiment of government intervention in the free market, releases its long-awaited housing study this week (Wednesday Feb 20, as announced by new LAC president Mike McDowell at the LAIC's annual meeting last month). We'll find out what sort of Five-Year Plan our economic development Politburo has come up with to help more folks call Madison Home Sweet Home.
Does Madison have a housing shortage? The city commission thinks so, at least enough to take on over $200K in debt and lock up increased tax revenues for 15 years to subsidize the development of maybe a dozen housing units in the new TIF district in southeast Madison. Our man Hunter has expressed the opinion that we might solve our housing shortage by focusing on renovating existing units first rather than building new. Get everyone up to code, revamp all those narrow 1900 staircases, and rewire those old houses to handle all of today's modern electronics. (I'll be Jon is advocating electrical upgrades just so more people can get online, read the Madville Times, and boost the number of referrals to his own website. ;-) ) Hunter's argument fits with my previous statements that we have lots of prime residential spots, especially in our bustling downtown, that just need some work to make them real draws.
Some of our neighbors are taking different approaches to their housing situations. The economic development folks in Plankinton are offering free land to workers willing to move in and build instead of commuting from Mitchell or elsewhere. (30 lots offered, 11 taken already!) That's a good community building strategy: it's nice to have workers drive to town to put in their hours in your factories and other facilities, but folks who live in town send their kids to your school, serve in community organizations, and are around on Saturday to help their neighbors. Plankinton recognizes that it's not enough to throw money at big corporations to build your community: instead of playing the Toyota lottery to draw one big employer, you might get as much bang for your buck by investing in housing to draw a few dozen workers and their families to become your neighbors.
Over in Howard, the Miner County Community Revitalization group has taken out a $250K loan to renovate an underused apartment complex. The Howard folks appear to be following a philosophy laid out by Aberdeen City Commissioner Clint Rux, who argued that Aberdeen's focus on TIFs for new housing skews toward the professional class and ignores the needs of the general workforce. Rux holds that folks who are moving to town for a new job aren't looking to buy a new house right off the bat. They want to get to know the town first, make sure they like the new job and milieu, and bank some cash before they tie themselves down with a mortgage. Given that it takes a month or two to close on a house, even the folks who know from Day 1 they're ready to settle will still need temporary digs.
Which route will the LAIC prescribe in its housing study? Which way will the LAIC throw its money: toward big developers and new houses on the edge of town, working families and affordable apartments and houses, or something Unexpected™?
The City of Madison should look into purchasing some land, putting in the infrastructure using a TIF District or similar financing mechanism, then giving the building lots away to families who will build a new home or bring in a Governor's House. There are many areas around Madison's outskirts that could hook up to City of Madison utilities. That might be an idea for Randy Schaefer's area behind the VFW Club. Instead of charging people for the lots, give them away or knock the price way down since the infrastructure is already paid for by the City. What people don't have to spend for a monthly house payment will come back to help Madison's retailers.
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