Housing

On March 11th, I participated in a candidate forum about housing. It’s no secret that most of Northeast Wisconsin, Oshkosh included, has a housing problem. Prices of homes and the cost of rent are climbing high while there is a shortage in housing units. Additionally, our available housing stock is also on the older end and needs investment. If we want to be a city that is attractive for people to live and work in, we need to tackle this issue.

To start, Oshkosh does not have a proper supply of housing. We simply do not have enough housing units. That lack of supply results in long searches in an overpriced housing market and high rent. This shortage also creates compression which squeezes people out of housing that is best fit for their means because of a lack of availability, high rent, and the overpriced nature of the housing market. Oshkosh is losing out on potential new residents and will have a hard time retaining its current residents due to a lack of housing options and supply. Businesses will not view our community as an attractive location if their employees do not have access to housing. This issue is a cornerstone of economic development, and Oshkosh will struggle if we do not do something soon.

So what can we do? Well to start we need to have the right mindset. We as a community need a holistic approach on incentivizing development and expanding our housing supply as well as refreshing our current housing stock. In order to evaluate specific policy solutions, I would propose that council create an intergovernmental, public-private task force on housing which would be composed of representatives and stakeholders which present an accurate cross section of our community. This housing task force would then report its findings and policy recommendations to council for consideration at the conclusion of their work. I would personally like to see this task force explore the feasibility of the following ideas - proactive remediation of brownfield sites and blighted lots to provide extra space for housing development, expansion of workforce housing options for young professionals and affordable units, construction of more entry level single family homes, expansion of tenant and landlord resources, and other potential outside the box solutions.

In terms of single family housing, I’d also like this task force to explore whether or not Oshkosh can take anything away from the Hunter’s Pointe development in Sheboygan. This program is a public-private partnership between local businesses and economic development groups to build up to 600 entry level single family homes all priced under $250,000. If we were able to replicate a form of that program here, we would not only create new entry level single family homes, but free up our existing housing stock and alleviate pressure on prices.

Another item I’d like council to look at is our building and inspections code and authorize a review of it. Reviews like these are healthy for local government to do from time to time as they can eliminate redundancies and make ordinances more simple and easier for the public to understand while still having robust safety and engineering standards. Hopefully, a review of this nature will show where Oshkosh can make some common sense reforms that will help us be a more attractive location for development and allow for better investment and maintenance in our existing housing stock. We also need to maintain a strong and independent inspections division that is helpful for both tenants and landlords while expanding and better marketing available resources for both.

Lastly, we need to look outside of the box. Oshkosh needs to get creative in the way it looks at housing and solutions for it. I’d appreciate this housing task force examining feasible solutions for accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and mixed use development in our downtown core. All in all, Oshkosh needs a housing first strategy to alleviate the shortage we have in this community. This will increase supply, put downward pressure on prices, and make us a generally more attractive community that people will want to move to and stay in!

As always, let me know what you think! Join the conversation by emailing me at jacobforoshkosh@gmail.com or contact me on social media. Header photo is from the City of Oshkosh via this WHBY article.