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The Current Housing Conundrum (in Spokane and beyond....)

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Our quality of life is at risk. The costs of housing have skyrocketed in recent years. Rents have increased by 14% in the past year alone!   It has become increasingly difficult to find, and afford, the type of housing needed for all of Spokane’s residents, and for all family types through every season of life. A healthy community is one that hosts an array of housing options , choices, and price levels. However, the current economy has forced most residents to pay more than 1/3 of household income on housing, pushing vulnerable residents to the edge. For too long, housing developers in both the city and county have been presented with a binary choice : to build either singular family homes – most larger sizes and larger lots – or to build high density, multi-family apartment complexes in areas unsuitable for density. Due to zoning restrictions and other political-economic factors, the community has had to endure development of multi-plex-units built in unsuitable locations. Oft