‘Eternally complex problems’: bipartisan advocates talk affordable housing
Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore – Original Source: https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2023/10/05/eternally-complex-problems-bipartisan-advocates-talk-affordable-housing/
Nonprofit, nonpartisan group Arizona Talks in late September organized a discussion of Arizona’s housing crisis in which moderator Jessica Boehm of Axios Phoenix succinctly summed it up: “The crux of our affordability challenges in metro Phoenix can boil down to something we all should have learned in Econ 101, and that is supply and demand.” As of 2022, 270,000 new housing units were needed to fill the demand, but that goal is not being met. A variety of speakers including Arizona Rep. Analise Ortiz, former state senator Steve Kaiser and Arizona Department of Housing Director Joan Serviss talked about roadblocks to building, such as zoning regulations, and political issues that have prevented meaningful legislation to overcome them. Participants also brought up a host of potential solutions, but instead of looping back to Boehm’s forthright and accurate statement, the article concluded that the problems are “eternally complex.”
