Real Estate Blog - To Be, Or Not To Be (More Affordable Housing in Ashland Oregon)…That Is The Question!

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To Be, Or Not To Be (More Affordable Housing in Ashland Oregon)…That Is The Question!

The City of Ashland and Developer Doug Irvine have been in discussions over the possible trade of land. Doug Irvine is interested in acquiring a 2 acre parcel of land within Westwood Park plus three residential lots on Strawberry Lane, for which he will in return trade 10 acres of land he owns on Clay Street.

The City of Ashland has been great proponents of affordable housing for its residents, and they are looking to build 60 homes on 5 acres if this parcel of land on Clay Street with soccer fields on the other 5 acres. Doug Irvine is looking to build 4 luxury homes on the 2 acre Westwood Park parcel.

A new group, Friends of Westwood Park, has formed in order to oppose this impending transaction. Their 60 members, which include prominent environmentalists as well as a former Mayor of Ashland, plan to attend the Parks and Recreation Commission and Housing Commission hearings to put forward their position against this proposed land swap.

If this project does indeed develop, it will be time for Ashland to consider participating in the Mortgage Credit Certificate Program to further assist homeowners. Stay tuned to see if Ashland, Oregon will have 60 more much needed affordable homes on the agenda!

See you out there!

Karen Cooper - OR|CA Mortgage Consultant - www.Quality4Loans.com
Providing high Quality, Professional, Ethical service to Oregon and California home buyers and owners since 1983. Whether you are taking out your first home loan or your fiftieth, for your home, your second home or for investment, put my knowledge and expertise to work for you.

Posted by Karen Cooper-Mtg Banker|Broker Ashland|Medford on 04/26/2008 10:39 PM

Comments (7)

affordable housing, city of ashland, jackson county, westwood park, rogue valley

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7 Comments on To Be, Or Not To Be (More Affordable Housing in Ashland Oregon)…That Is The Question!

APR

2008

Karen, "Affordable" housing must be a topic of discussion in every town across the country these days.

APR

2008

Carol - It is extraordinarily present for a community of roughly 20,000! It's a community of extremes, though, with affluent homeowners surrounded by low-income college students and an employment base heavy in low-wage tourism jobs. Here is a great article better identifying the various positions we see on this issue in our area. Thanks for stopping by.

Karen, I read the article and found it very interesting and insightful. Seems every community has the same issues and need to decide how important "affordable" housing is. We are knee deep in the same issues here. Thanks for the link.

Carol - I agree with you, and the article's author, that prioritization is important to get the community's support behind its issues. What some people in Ashland Oregon are doing is accepting the fact that 15-20 miles away, affordable housing is available so "let those communities deal with it". I say, when the Ashland Oregon residents are all old and gray, their children and grandchildren moved to where they could afford to buy a home, their home health care/skilled nursing folks have all taken up residence in the communities where they "dealt with it", and no one wants to drive the 15-20 miles at $4.00 per gallon, what then? Or how about a natural disaster happens - one that comes to mind for me is the 1994 Northridge Earthquake - and their workers are unable to get to their jobs at the hospital, doctors' office, police/fire stations? I struggle with understanding the "not in my back yard" philosophy...

We are having an issue here with an old trailer park that is being vacated for riverfront development. The developer who bought the property (on the waterfront) has bought two different parcels of acreage on the outskirts of town to relocate the residents, but the neighbors screamed bloody murder and now the developer has thrown up his hands and said enough. He was under no legal obligation to relocate them but was trying to do the right thing. This has been ongoing for about two years with no solution so those people are left with no place to put their homes and no place to go.

If we displace the service workers who will serve the snobs their food and drinks... or clean the motel rooms when company comes to visit?

APR

2008

Carol - Ashland had a similar situation, a mobile home park developers wanted to build on. They ran in to so much resistance, the project went by the wayside - for now! With so few affordable housing units available, communities certainly can't afford to lose any of the ones they have!

JUN

2008

Update - At this point, this Affordable Housing in Ashland Oregon is a no go. The developer backed out. We'll see where it goes from here.

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