1 On Feb 24, 03:14 pm, THartill wrote:

And of course nothing and let the chips fall is a viable answer as well….

3 On Feb 24, 04:21 pm, Walter Richards wrote:

There’s 2 factors for home prices … 1 the cost of the land, and 2 the cost of the “improvement” (home). I’m not positive, but I believe the main reason housing is so expensive all across Oregon, is the first factor. So much Oregon land is locked up, that land prices are ridiculously high.

There are 2 solutions to that problem. First, get rid of all the state regulations locking up land. Things like “urban growth boundaries”. Or the regs that say you can’t develop farm land except for farming. Second, reclaim what’s rightfully Oregon’s – the land that the federal gov’t holds unConstitutionally.

5 On Feb 24, 07:18 pm, THartill wrote:

Pierce

It’s a shame the more of downtown can’t be utilized. Almost every building downtown is 3 stories (Top/Middle/Basement) of which one story is being used. The top floors are for the most part sitting empty or used as storage. A few have taken advantage of the basements, and a few more are looking into ways to use them. Combine this with the derelict buildings and 1/2 of Downtown is not even being used.

I wonder with all the planned condos going in, whether it would be cheaper for developers to just tear down some of the older buildings and build new ones. Most of downtown has a 45ft limit, with the rest being 35. With 45 ft someone could build a 5 story building with a basement. That’s 2 floors of retail and 4 floors of Apt’s. Seems with the money needed to build one condo complex on the water (15-20 million) someone could rebuild 3 or 4 new buildings downtown.

Maybe Glenn has a little insight of why this isn’t happening….

7 On Feb 25, 02:04 am, Cary Johnson wrote:

The lack of affordable housing is very much an Astoria issue as well as a Seaside and Oregon issue.

As far as utilizing downtown Astoria, it could be more affordable for a developer to demo and build a new building downtown, but I think you would see more than a little opposition to tearing down historic buildings. The condo buildings on the water target a completely different market and will be of no benefit to affordable housing.

It is a possibility to retrofit some of the vacant downtown space into appartments or possibly condos. I think some tax incentives would go a long way in making some of that happen. Many cities including Portland have offered tax breaks, and in Astoria where property taxes are unbelievably high, it could be whats needed. Another issue with existing buildings turned into residential, is the parking issue. People must be able to park close to where they live.

If Astoria is serious about doing something about affordable housing they must ease up on the regulation and red tape. What it takes to build a simple house in the Mill Pond subdivision is absolutly outragious and there is no possible way to build affordable housing if its going to be like that. I know there are developers and builders that just avoid working in Astoria because its slow, painful, and expensive. Its just easier not to deal with the City, and go elsewhere to do business. This must change.

The biggest problem facing us on affordable housing in our area remains to be the shortage of land. Dont get me wrong, there is plenty of land around here that would be suitable to build on, but it is tied with land use laws. The City of Astoria, needs to get off its butt and get moving on opening up some land before the problem gets worse and my family, friends and neighbors are forever priced out of home ownership.

Rent Control? Perish the thought!

9 On Feb 25, 02:32 pm, the guy wrote:

If you cant afford astoria, move to warrenton.

11 On Feb 26, 10:41 am, Walter Richards wrote:

Warrenton’s not much better, unless you’re buying new. Though the taxes aren’t so high.

I had to buy across the river, to get away from the ridiculous land prices. But they’re going up over there, as “transplants” get tired of paying the high land costs they caused in Oregon. LOL!

13 On Feb 26, 10:59 pm, Carrie wrote:

According to the Oregon Employment Department, the average monthly earnings in Clatsop County in 2005 were $2,360. Of all sectors, manufacturing paid the highest monthly average of $4,190; leisure and hospitality paid the lowest monthly average of $1,211. Which shows why the average is $2360. It isn’t a “true” representation of the average person’s average income.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Clatsop County’s per capita personal income was $27,940 in 2004, 91 percent of the state average of $30,561, and 85 percent of the national average, $33,050. Per capita income in Clatsop County rose 5.0 percent between 2003 and 2004. The 1994 to 2004 trend in per capita income shows average annual growth of 4.0 percent. Average earnings per job in 2004 were $28,137, compared to $35,005 for the state.

Even though we are gaining ground, statistically, it doesn’t mean it is economically becoming affordable to live here by any stretch. We need to keep looking for answers.

15 On Mar 3, 02:33 pm, THartill wrote:

Guy

Here is the problem, as more people want to move here the cost goes up. If you keep everything exactly the way it is you run into major issues. There has to be some balance between halting everything and Southern California. We have to ask ourselves what we want our County to look like in 20 years if we continue to see more interest in local Real Estate and prepare it. If we do plan for it and all of a sudden everything comes to halt and nobody wants to move to the North Oregon Coast then we have lost nothing.

As to there being a time when not a tree was here…..The largest amount of logs taken out of Clatsop County occurred in the last 30 years. Trees are still everywhere.

17 On Mar 3, 06:25 pm, THartill wrote:

Supply and Demand

19 On May 11, 09:44 am, me wrote:

I am so happy he wrote about this situation for Astoria. I have lived here for 13 years and I have worked here everyday… not at a burger stand, but I have had all well paying jobs. It is so disappointing to know that I have put time and effort into this town and still I can’t seem to find a place nice enough to call home. If you pay $600.00 a month here for rent in an apartment, you will normally get a spacious apartment but there are always “quirks”. MOLD is a big issue and a ton of Landlords get away with it. Most of the apartment buildings are very very old homes that have been turned into apartments at one time. But… along with remodeling old homes…its a great idea but in about 20 years it seems they need to be remodeled again because of mold. There is not proper ventilation for the small apartment and many bathrooms don’t have good sinks they are the old ceramic ones that hang off the wall. It is very costly sometimes for heat since most buildings that are old don’t have insulation and still have the wooden pained windows that give off alot of condensation and that causes mold…black & red mold. So my point being is that $600,000 per month is horrible for what you are getting especially when it is two people living together that have a steady job and have had the same jobs for 4 years, now why do we still have to struggle? We just need some affordable housing for the young people on their own that work hard and contribute to society! Lets not even start about medical insurance!