Edwin Lyngar

I was talking with a community college student last week as he complained about his monthly rent. I nearly spat out my coffee when he told me that his rent is $1,300 for a two-bedroom apartment, almost the exact amount I pay for a mortgage on my four-bedroom home.

I often hear older folks gripe about “millennials” and their perceived lack of thrift or work ethic, but our government’s fiscal policies have put young people in an unwinnable situation. Despite “low” overall inflation, college and housing costs have exploded, pricing our children out of the American Dream.

When I started graduate school in 2001, my tuition was less than students pay for community college now. “Working your way through college,” as so many in previous generations did, is impossible for students today. Housing is the budget-killer for young dreams, as our society seems more focused on pleasing current, aging homeowners than enabling the next generation of Nevadans the opportunities we enjoyed. We’ll never be able to build a stable community unless we aggressively embrace an “all of the above” attitude to home affordability.

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I know many people who agree with me on politics might not agree on housing. Nothing brings out enraged, passionate people like new development or zoning changes. I don’t blame our local elected officials either. They have a tough job balancing competing interests, and longstanding homeowners are often the loudest and most politically savvy people. Liberals worry, understandably, about keeping the character of our small city and about environmental and flooding concerns. It will take courage and creativity to keep the housing market accessible for everyone, and someone is bound to get angry over any perceived “losses.”

There are several projects in various states of planning right now, from large infill development to proposals for new “suburban” communities to the idea of “granny flats” in some Reno neighborhoods. They all deserve serious consideration.

The Prado Ranch project in the North Valleys seems ready to go. The infrastructure there already is inadequate, and this project could be the catalyst not only expand housing but fix crumbling roads.

“This project will provide needed funding to enhance it and solve many of the current issues including raising and widening Lemmon Drive, opening up Swan Lake Basin and adding additional drainage. As part of the project, Lansing Companies will pay more than $20 million in fees that will directly benefit the existing infrastructure and overall region,” Gregory Lansing, president and CEO of Lansing Companies said in an email to me. Only by using some portion of the funds generated for new housing can we ever hope to invest in the improvements we’ve needed in that area for decades.

The Reno City Council just voted down a project in South Reno on the site of the old Butler Ranch. Even though this project wasn’t quite ready at the last City Council hearing, I hope Newport Pacific Land and the city can find a way to make it work. Despite understandable concerns, I don’t think anyone believes that we’ll leave this track of undeveloped land, and there’s solid reasoning for doing it sooner rather than later.

I love the idea of “granny flats,” too. Although the most recent proposal also fell flat, there’s room for compromise. Reno has many historic neighborhoods that should be protected, but there are other neighborhoods that might be open and excited about this kind of innovation.

There’s a term for the predictable, sometimes universal resistance to any change: “not in my backyard” (NIMBY). It’s the first instinct many people have when we talk about growth. I don’t know which of the proposals above will succeed, but if we want a community that stays open, healthy and affordable, we’re going to have to approve projects that make some people uncomfortable. Even if housing prices fall, we need to be ready for the next generation of homeowners to participate in the American dream. I’m not married to any one solution, but we should always start with a desire to get to “yes” as our state, city and county governments tackle affordable housing with our entire community in mind.

Edwin Lyngar is a Reno resident and freelance writer.