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Coconino Voices: Utilizing public lands for affordable housing fails to meaningfully address crisis

Patrice Horstman

Patrice Horstman, Coconino County District 1 Supervisor and vice chair of the board, speaks at Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's rally in Heritage Square in November 2024.

The shortage of affordable housing in the U.S. is a coast-to-coast problem, which has been acutely felt in the West. Exploring measures to boost new affordable construction and increasing the housing supply in the United States is imperative. However, utilizing our public lands to achieve this goal is misguided and fails to address the housing crisis in a practical or meaningful way. 

The joint proposal from Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to utilize “underutilized� property in our National Parks and Wildlife Refuges to fix our nation's affordable housing problem fails to recognize that the housing shortage is not due to the lack of developable land but is due to the high cost of construction. Utilizing federal land for development does not address the cost of materials, labor, and infrastructure. Further, the current tariffs are not going to ease these construction costs. 



Patrice Horstman is with the Coconino County Board of Supervisors.



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