HCN | Has Montana Solved its Housing Crisis

As for whether Montana’s new housing strategy will live up to its hype, Davis said to check back in five years. If, at that point, firefighters and teachers can afford housing, then the state will, indeed, have pulled off something of a miracle.

HCN | Has Montana Solved its Housing Crisis
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Read the article at HCN by Susan Shain
Excerpt:
“These rapid changes prompted Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, to appoint a bipartisan housing task force in summer 2022. The group’s recommendations led the state Legislature to pass a raft of housing-related bills in its 2023 session. The speed and breadth of the changes garnered national attention, with some even dubbing the reforms “the Montana miracle.”
Yet many Montanans, who find themselves and their neighbors unhoused, insecurely housed or fiscally imprisoned in dilapidated digs, deride this characterization. They say they’re not feeling any miracles — and that, even if the recent bills boost the housing supply, many people will be left in the lurch because lawmakers failed to adequately address affordability.
Even experts aren’t sure how Montana’s strategy will fare. Martha Galvez, executive director of New York University’s Housing Solutions Lab, was heartened by the state’s progress, calling it a “pretty impressive change in a pretty short amount of time,” but she wasn’t ready to declare victory yet. “It’ll be interesting to watch how these new changes play out,” she said…”

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