GOTTEN
GOTTEN SOME REALLY INTERESTING STUFF ON THERE.
SO IF YOU JUST WANT TO GO
AND READ THROUGH, I INVITE YOU
TO DO THAT AS WELL.
>> NO, I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT
SOLUTIONS THIS LAST YEAR HAS
BEEN LET'S LET'S CALL IT ROUGH
AND WE'VE HEARD FROM A LOT
OF YOU WHO WANT US TO FOCUS
MORE ON WHAT IS WORKING IN OUR
COMMUNITY AND WE HEAR YOU
AND TONIGHT WE'RE FOCUSING ON A
SOLUTION BREWING IN ASTORIAS
SEE >> WHAT I DID THERE BECAUSE
THEY LOVE BEER.
THEY ALSO LOVE BRIDGES.
RIGHT ?
RIGHT ?
RIGHT ? THEY LOVE THE GOONIES
AND ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
TEACHING LITTLE KIDS IT'S NOT A
TOOMAH IT'S NOT A TOOMAH.
ALL RIGHT >>.
THAT'S THE THAT'S THE FULL MOST
PEOPLE DON'T DO THAT BUT KIND
OF AN ARNOLD PURIST.
BUT I DIGRESS.
SEE, IT TURNS OUT ASTORIA ALSO
HAS A GROWING HOUSING SHORTAGE
AND CITY OFFICIALS TOLD OUR
MAGGIE VOSPER THEY'RE EXPLORING
EVERY OPTION TO FIX IT IN FAST
>>.
>>.
>>. OREGON'S COASTLINE HAS A LOT TO
BRAG ABOUT IN STORY YOU'VE GOT
THE IVIEWS THE BRUISE AND THE
GOONIES HOUSE WHICH DRAWS
SWARMS OF NOSTALGIC MILLENNIALS
EVERY YEAR.
EVERY YEAR. BUT HEY, NO CITY IS PERFECT >>.
WE'RE SUSCEPTIBLE TO ALL THE
NATIONAL TRENDS AND ASTORIA HAS
GOT ITS PROBLEMS.
JUST ASK MAYOR BRUCE JONES
AND CITY MANAGER BRETT ESTES
>>.
>>.
>>. I
>>. I JUST READ AN ARTICLE IN THE
NEW YORK TIMES THIS MORNING
ABOUT THE NATIONWIDE SHORTAGE
OF HOUSING STOCK AND EVERYTHING
THAT WAS IN THAT ARTICLE
APPLIES TO ASTORIAN.
>> WE HAVE OUR ONGOING NEED FOR
WORKFORCE HOUSING >> THE CAUSE
OF THAT SHORTAGE THEY SAY, IS
SIMPLE.
SIMPLE.
SIMPLE. ASTORIA HAS BOOMED IN
POPULARITY THESE LAST FEW YEARS
AND WE'RE NOT JUST TALKING
TOURISM MORE AND MORE PEOPLE
ARE MOVING THERE, ESPECIALLY
THOSE WORKING REMOTELY AMID THE
PANDEMIC AND IT'S CREATING THE
SAME PROBLEM THAT EXISTS IN A
LOT OF WEST COAST CITIES.
HOUSING STOCK IS RUNNING LOW,
PRICES ARE GOING UP AND WHILE
IT'S TOUGH TO QUANTIFY, THEY
SAY A GROWING NUMBER OF PEOPLE
WHO WORK IN STORY, ESPECIALLY
IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY CAN'T
AFFORD TO LIVE THERE.
WE >> DO HEAR FROM EMPLOYERS
FAIRLY FREQUENTLY THAT THEY HAD
SOMEONE COME IN FOR AN
INTERVIEW AND THEY WANTED TO
HIRE THIS PERSON AND THE PERSON
COULDN'T FIND SOMETHING THEY
THEY COULD LIVE WITH.
WE HEAR FROM COAST GUARD PEOPLE
ALL THE TIME SO OFFICIALS HAVE
A PLAN AS THE DAILY ASTORIAN
FIRST REPORTED, THE CITY
COUNCIL IS WEIGHING REZONING
PARTS OF ASTORIA TO BUILD
AFFORDABLE AND HIGHER DENSITY
HOUSING.
HOUSING.
HOUSING. THEY SAY THERE ARE EMPTY LOTS
THROUGHOUT THE CITY, SOME GOOD
HOUSING, MULTISTORY BUILDINGS,
OTHERS SMALLER DUPLEXES.
NOTHING IS SET IN STONE BUT
IT'S MUSIC TO ALAN EVANS'S EARS
>> WE NEED TO GROW WITH THE
TIMES AND WE NEED TO GROW WITH
THE NEED >>.
EVANS IS THE CEO OF HELPING
HANDS, A NONPROFIT BASED IN
ASTORIA.
ASTORIA.
ASTORIA. HE'S WATCHED FOR YEARS AS THE
AREA'S HOMELESS POPULATION HAS
GROWN.
GROWN.
GROWN. KGW HAS COVERED THE ISSUE ON
THE CITY STREETS AND IN ITS
FORESTS BEFORE IN FACT,
ACCORDING TO THE LAST STATEWIDE
COUNT, CLATSOP COUNTY HAS THE
HIGHEST RATE OF HOMELESS PEOPLE
PER CAPITA OF ANY COUNTY IN
OREGON NEARLY TWENTY THREE
PEOPLE EXPERIENCING
PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS PER ONE THOUSAND
RESIDENTS.
RESIDENTS. MULTNOMAH COUNTY HAS CLOSE TO
FIVE PEOPLE PER ONE THOUSAND
RESIDENTS.
RESIDENTS. MARION COUNTY HAS LESS THAN
THREE AND ASTORIAS FEELING THE
SQUEEZE, EVANS NOTES.
IN THE LAST FEW YEARS IT'S BEEN
HARDER TO GET PEOPLE WHO HAVE
GONE THROUGH RECOVERY BACK INTO
HOUSING.
HOUSING.
HOUSING. SIMPLY PUT, THERE AREN'T ENOUGH
AFFORDABLE UNITS WE HAVE >> TO
HOLD ON TO PEOPLE IN SOME CASES
TWO OR THREE MONTHS LONGER FOR
PLACEMENT THAN WE EVER HAVE
BEFORE.
BEFORE.
BEFORE. SO FOR >> ME IT'S A SENSE
OF URGENCY >>.
THAT SAID, ONCE THE CITY
PROPOSES PLANS TO ACTUALLY
BUILD IN ASTORIA, THE MAYOR
KNOWS THERE WILL BE BLOWBACK.
PEOPLE WILL FIGHT TO KEEP THEIR
VIEWS OF THE RIVER AND OF
COURSE WE DO HAVE A HISTORIC
COMMUNITY AND WE WANT TO
PRESERVE OUR HISTORIC
CHARACTER.
CHARACTER. OK >>, MAGGIE VESP JOINING US
NOW NOW THAT PER CAPITA
HOMELESS RATE TO PUT CLATSOP
COUNTY UP TO THE VERY TOP IN
THE STATE.
THE STATE. I THINK THAT'S GOING TO BE
SOMETHING THAT THAT DRAWS A LOT
OF ATTENTION.
OF ATTENTION. BUT WE SHOULD ELABORATE ON THAT
BECAUSE THE DEFINITION
OF HOMELESS HERE IS PRETTY
BROAD >>, RIGHT ?
THOSE COUNTS USE FEDERAL
DEFINITIONS WHICH ACTUALLY ARE
REALLY SPECIFIC.
REALLY SPECIFIC. SO WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT A RATE
OF HOMELESSNESS OR PEOPLE WHO
ARE HOMELESS, THAT CAN MEAN
SOMEONE IN A SHELTER OR
TRANSITIONAL HOUSING.
TRANSITIONAL HOUSING. IT CAN MEAN SOMEONE STAYING
WITH A FRIEND OR FAMILY AND IT
CAN MEAN PEOPLE LIVING ON THE
STREETS IF YOU NARROW IT DOWN
TO JUST THOSE ON THE STREETS
THAT'S A SMALLER SUBCATEGORY
CALLED UNSHELTERED AND IT'S
JUST WORTH NOTING BECAUSE IT
BASICALLY IT MEANS THAT THIS
PROBLEM WHEN YOU REFER TO A
HOMELESS POPULATION IN THE CITY
LIKE ASTORIA, IT'S BIGGER THAN
JUST THE GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT
YOU SEE THAT ARE LIVING ON THE
STREETS AND THAT'S WHY CITY
OFFICIALS ARE REALLY HITTING
THE GROUND RUNNING WITH THIS NO
LIKE HARD BUILDING >> OR OR
ZONING PLANS RIGHT