Fixing housing problems must be an Ohio priority | News, Sports, Jobs

Public officials in Ohio have known for decades that our economy is in a state of rebound and transition. But we have done a terrible job of preparing ourselves for what comes next. Rather than be proactive, we have collectively spent way too much time looking backward and being reactive.

That is coming back to haunt us, as large employers give the Buckeye State a chance, and we aren’t ready.

We hear that often from economic development experts, including those locally who know we don’t have enough qualified employees for the thousands of jobs expected from Intel’s project. We don’t have enough housing for all the new residents that will mean, either.

“Where are we putting everybody?” Melissa Humbert-Washington, vice president of programs and services at Homes for Families, wondered. The region is already struggling with a significant housing shortage.

“It’s economic development. It’s going to employ people. But you are probably going to have to bring a lot of people into the area,” Mark Stapp, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at Arizona State University, said. Those jobs require housing.

“If you don’t recognize that and don’t properly plan infrastructure, land use policies and manage that growth, it can be a big problem. The great opportunity turns into a big problem.”

Stapp is speaking with the benefit of having observed what happened in Arizona when Intel built there. Housing prices in Chandler, Ariz., are now higher than they are in the Phoenix area, because Chandler was not ready to meet the demand when Intel came to town.

Ohio residents know the last thing we can afford right now is even more expensive housing.

On the other hand, we certainly hope Intel will be the first of many — and, for that matter, that the next wave might hit rural and Appalachian Ohio. The time for preparing for such development is NOW. Local, county and state officials must take the attitude that good things are coming and we’ve got to be ready for them. If we do not, we may find ourselves watching as a large employer decides we can’t move quickly enough to be the right spot for them, and moves on.

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