Alpena Housing Task Force’s Housing Needs Assessment

The Alpena Housing Task Force has been meeting since January of last year. Now that it’s been a year and a half, they are beginning to focus their work a little more.

They recently hired Community Research Services, LLC to conduct a housing needs assessment and discovered more about the needs of the northeast Michigan area.

“What housing types, how many units of each type. So that’s what we did, the results came back to us in the spring, and we’ve been reviewing those and we’re just getting the word out a little bit more about what the key findings are,” said Alpena city manager Rachel Smolinski.

Several entities in the community have helped fund the task force, acknowledging the importance of creating housing in the area. Some of those entities include the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan and the Charter Township of Alpena.

“We’ve brought different entities together now, and I think that’s the most important thing, and now we can determine how we can best have an impact on housing in the area,” said Smolinski.

While housing is a pressing issue in northeast Michigan, it’s something that needs to be approached with patience and meticulousness.

“This is not something that’s going to happen overnight,” said Smolinski. “It may not even happen in three to five years. These are projects that take time.”

Kelly Murdock of Community Research Services LLC will present the findings of the housing needs assessment at the city council meeting on Monday.