Lake Oswego may be one of the hottest real estate markets in the state — even in the nation — but nearly 24.5 percent of families were living in unaffordable conditions here in the year 2000, according to a study by a city task force slated to change that.
Using the most recent Census data, the Affordable Housing Task Force in Lake Oswego is tracking housing costs at the behest of the city council.
In its research, the group has found that about a quarter of households are spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, topping the federal standard for affordability.
“These are statistics that kind of highlight what we think may be a hidden problem in Lake Oswego,” said Dan Vizzini, chairman of the task force.
Assembled nearly a year ago and charged with crafting a more affordable Lake Oswego, the task force is finding more people are strapped with housing costs than previously believed.
Stephan Lashbrook, community development director for the city, said the news is typical of national trends.
“The reality is that that’s been creeping up nationwide for a number of years,” he said. “I’d want to know how much more than 30 percent.”
But paired with the high cost of real estate already a trademark of Lake Oswego, the trend is causing some concern. Climbing housing costs could aid the erosion of school funding and key players in the community have already been priced out of housing options, including teachers and public safety officers.
The trend is worrisome to Vizzini, who tackles housing issues for the city of Portland. “A lot of first responders, firefighters and police, don’t live here,” he said. “Getting here in an ice storm is an issue.”
Data shows that 84 percent of the city’s 331 employees now live outside Lake Oswego.
Retail employees, service workers and young professionals can only afford rent if they spend less than a third of their income. Nearly 70 percent of school district’s 774 employees also live out of town.
For schools, the problem is deeper than staff commutes. Lake Oswego stands to lose classroom dollars as young families choose more affordable communities. The district loses $5,000 in state dollars per child as enrollment declines, a fact that so far has not threatened the district’s quality standing.
Vizzini believes increasing housing stock can curb the impact of other factors lowering school enrollment. Other issues include an aging population, a lack of new housing in Lake Oswego and fewer adults having children.
“The whole notion of re-energizing the population by making it possible for young people, young families to afford homes is something that’s of particular interest to us,” Vizzini said.
When they make their recommendations as to how to do that, the task force members will be battling several factors.
According to a report to the city council in January, single-family homes are less available than they used to be and their price has risen steadily over the last eight years. A median mortgage payment is now $1,800 a month in Lake Oswego. Research by the task force shows that many executives, administrators and managers could not afford a home here if those earners spent less than 30 percent of their income on housing.
This leaves a narrowing population left to live in Lake Oswego. A recent community survey shows they are an aging community of two-person households. Their average age is 54.
That population is unsure whether affordable housing should be a goal for city leaders. According to that same survey, 51 percent are concerned about the lack of affordable housing here, while 40 percent are not.
Leadership and values (BACK TO TOP)
The Lake Oswego Transitional Shelter Ministries is one of the few local entities reaching out to those struggling with housing.
LOTSM, a ministerial partnership between seven churches, provides two transitional housing facilities for homeless families in Lake Oswego. Its member churches also help with other needs, including rent and utilities.
Previously, those in need were families who came to Lake Oswego hoping this reputedly wealthy community could offer help. In the last year, according to Char White, past president of LOTSM, more of the people seeking financial help from churches were Lake Oswego residents.
“This past year it’s been a lot,” White said. “Some are from the parish … We’ve had a number of families lose their homes due to long periods of unemployment.” Steve Sprecher, pastor at Lake Oswego’s United Methodist Church, sees other problems.
“We have a number of people having trouble finding places to live and paying bills,” he said. “People are employed and they’re meeting their bills and then a medical issue comes up and then either they’re not insured or they don’t have enough coverage to meet (the problem).”
For families in Lake Oswego, these temporary setbacks are complicated by the high cost of living.
Becky Plaza, a member of the task force on affordable housing, said underemployment and divorce have snow-balling consequences for Lake Oswego families.
Plaza, a teacher, has been a child development specialist in three of Lake Oswego’s elementary schools. In working with families, she saw trauma escalate for those with typical problems.
“When families would break up, still traditionally many of the kids would go with their mothers,” Plaza said. “These single-parent families can provide better for their children outside Lake Oswego. They’re getting more for their money somewhere else.”
Many struggling families opt to leave the area, compounding the difficulties already present in the home.
In the event of crisis, Plaza said, “It would be nice if the child can stay in the home school and not have to leave.”
She thinks more affordable housing could help struggling families who already make their home in Lake Oswego.
White, who joined LOTSM members in recent talks with the task force, is encouraged by the city’s interest in helping the housing dilemma.
“In addition to providing more transitional housing, there needs to be more affordable housing for working people who can’t afford to spend $350,000 and up,” she said.
White believes Lake Oswego can benefit from embracing those who provide services here, not just those who use them.
“People earn minimum wage and there’s no place to live here,” she said. “I think the mandate is to accommodate people of all socio-economic levels.” For Sprecher, government interest in making housing affordable presses a question that entangles leadership with values.
“The bottom line,” he said, “is what are the values that we hold as a community and do we provide for the needs of all persons in the community?”
A “holistic” approach
City councilors who have asked that question say the answer is easy.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” said Gay Graham, summarizing the consensus between herself and councilors John Turchi and Jack Hoffman.
For Vizzini, affordable housing is more than just correct.
“The real kind of genius about American democracy is its ability to get minorities and majorities in a room and figure something out,” he said. “We owe it to our community … to prepare citizens who can advance the greatest strength of our democracy — our ability to address problems and seek solutions to serve all … regardless of the cultural, ethnic, religious or economic origins.”
Yet attracting that mix to Lake Oswego will face challenges. Out of the 13,310 residences in the city’s service area — which includes the Stafford Triangle — only 473 homes are valued at less than $150,0000. Inside the city, nearly 22 percent of homeowners spend more than 30 percent on housing. That number jumps to 35 percent among renters.
The task force has made a grueling effort of analyzing Lake Oswego’s ability to change that.
Sprecher, in supporting public policy, said the city should ultimately offer a “holistic” strategy to make housing available, a term that has inspired Vizzini.
Looking to LOTSM, he said, “Their level of commitment was unbelievable.” He shares LOTSM’s theory that values should underpin policy.
“There are plenty of moral, ethical and social reasons for building a community that reflects a kind of bell curve of socioeconomic diversity,” he said. “A healthy community benefits from the social tension and creative engagement that comes with minority populations at either end of the socioeconomic spectrum.”
Partnering with agencies who put equal stake in public health, such as LOTSM, is “a very attractive match” in Vizzini’s mind. In a final report due out this summer, the task force will recommend a combination of partnerships, funding strategies and policy tools to increase affordable housing stock.
Looking toward that end, Graham said, “What we as a council and staff will have to do is take a look at those recommendations and say, what do we do?”
For the city council, charting the course to affordable housing will be tough.
“In a place like Lake Oswego, you can’t get there without some sort of intervention,” Lashbrook said.
With land prices here among the highest in the state, attracting affordable housing dollars and developers to low-cost projects will be difficult. That money goes further outside Lake Oswego, and developers who build here typically don’t build cheap.
“Immediately we are in a different position than some other parts of the region,” said Lashbrook.
And though there are loose requirements to make Oregon housing affordable, there is no law that mandates Lake Oswego to take this step. The city has only an interest in doing so, spawned by former councilor Karl Rhode and carried on by current leaders.
Knowing affordable housing lacks glamour and interest has not deterred Graham.
“Certainly what we’re doing is consciousness raising,” she said.
She is hopeful that spreading the word will generate public support for policy, especially as people understand the families waiting at the gate.
In Lake Oswego, she said, there are few housing options for seniors who downsize and few adult children are able to re-enter the community.
“That is a great, wonderful, affirming vote to say how great your community is to have your kids want to come back,” Graham said. “If people aren’t coming back because they can’t afford to, I think that is our concern.”
Graham believes only ownership and wealth opportunity will attract people to invest in schools, civic projects and Lake Oswego. Only the distractions of daily life, she added, prevent current residents from thinking about the impacts of housing loss.
“We get so entrenched in our day to day requirements … some of the trees in the forest kind of get lost,” Graham said. “But that’s not to say people don’t give a damn, because I think they do.”
