The Housing Needs Assessment quantifies housing needs in Rio Blanco County and provides recommendations on how these needs can be addressed.
It contains information intended to support development of specific goals and objectives for consideration of actionable options for addressing housing needs and opportunities. Addressing housing needs, concerns, issues, and opportunities is complex and challenging, yet crucial for preservation of communities and sustainable economies.
This study assesses and quantifies a variety of housing problems including:
Affordability: which considers housing costs relative to income.
Overcrowding: when homes are not of a sufficient size to meet the needs of the household.
Condition: of homes, which encompasses a variety of factors such as general physical condition, safety, and surroundings.
Public perceptions: which gauge the relative severity of housing needs in the county relative to other problems residents face.
Location: the ability of residents to live where they want, and in proximity to employment.
Employer problems: including insufficient labor force to fill available positions, high turnover, and absenteeism/tardiness that are directly attributable to housing costs and availability.
Needs are measurements of the number of additional units required to address problems and are quantified based on unfilled jobs, commuting, job growth, and retirement.