Community Voices: Cities must take steps to fulfill housing needs

Bob Dylan wrote a song in 1964 titled “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” It was meant to be an anthem for change, and over the last 60 years, it has become just that.

The one verse that always struck a chord with me is: “Then you better start swimmin’, or you’ll sink like a stone / For the times, they are a-changin’.”

I took that to mean that if you don’t change, you will be left behind, only to never catch up with everyone else who did.

Ron Clewer, one of the nation’s leading housing experts who calls Rockford home, frequently writes about the northern Illinois housing market’s problems in his Substack blog. He writes about how, for first-time homebuyers, the costs of buying a home are too high due to inflation, a lack of housing inventory, and material and labor costs.

He writes of actions that could resolve these issues, such as incentive packages, gap funding, abatements, fee waivers and zoning changes that city governments could enact to restart housing construction in their communities. Locally, communities are working on these solutions and are putting them to work.

Rockford, Sycamore, Mt. Morris, Dixon, Rock Falls and now Sterling are discussing creating the right incentives to stimulate a stagnant housing development market. The days of developers coming into town and building 20, 30 or more homes in a newly annexed subdivision in the Tri-Cities area are slipping away because the times are changing.

Unless you are willing to provide incentives for developers who will take the risk to build such developments, housing will not be built in the numbers needed to meet the housing demand in these and other communities. Rock Falls, Dixon, Sterling and Mt. Morris are doing it, as are many communities within the Shaw Media region.

Sterling signed a housing development agreement within its Riverfront redevelopment pact with Gorman & Co. in 2022. Dixon signed a housing development agreement in 2023. Rock Falls signed a housing development agreement three months ago. Mt. Morris recently signed a housing development agreement, and there are others in the works around the region.

These housing developments will provide housing for the aging population and individuals with developmental disabilities, affordable housing for working families who earn below the average median income, and market-rate housing for those who can afford the price of purchasing or leasing these homes.

But it’s not enough.

Housing was the topic of a more than 90-minute discussion at a recent Sterling City Council meeting. The city’s planners presented a PowerPoint study of the problems and their causes that impede housing development in the community. Many of the council members agreed that there is a need to continue this discussion with stakeholders who can offer input on addressing these problems.

Alderman Joe Strabala-Bright brought up the idea of forming an ad-hoc committee to take on this task, and Mayor Diana Merdian agreed that this would be a course of action worth pursuing. He also brought up the idea that regionalism should play a role in resolving these housing development problems. Alderwoman Mary Oros of Dixon agreed with this idea.

Oros believes that a regional approach will help keep the communities that make up the Tri-Cities – Dixon, Sterling and Rock Falls – from competing with each other to obtain whatever new housing they can from developers. She believes that the Tri-Cities communities could agree to provide a uniform incentive package to encourage developers to build housing for the workforce members of our three communities. Doing so will help ensure that all three communities continue to thrive and grow without giving away the kitchen sink for a few new homes here or there, which is not enough to resolve our housing problems in this area. This idea certainly has its merit and should be something to work toward in the future

The largest group of wage earners in the Tri-Cities is the $35,000 to $75,000 annual earnings group. An annual salary of this amount is insufficient to buy a $350,000 home or to afford a $ 1,800-a-month apartment. Something needs to be done to get this group of hardworking people into their own homes.

Rethinking zoning requirements, accepting tiny homes and accessory dwelling units as part of the housing inventory, and increasing the housing density within residential neighborhoods will create enough housing to help this group afford their own homes one day.

A community development financial onstitution, which any bank or credit union is qualified to become with access to federal funds, can be a source of funding for developers to help afford the costs of constructing affordable and market-rate housing. Unfortunately, a financial institution with access to all three Tri-Cities communities has yet to take on that responsibility. If we had a CDFI in the Tri-Cities, it would be a valuable resource for helping to resolve our housing problems.

Many other things can be done to restart housing development in the Tri-Cities and throughout the Shaw Media region. Still, it will not happen if we are unwilling to change the rules, regulations and policies that govern housing development.

Regarding housing development, the times are changing, and we all had better start swimming, or we’ll sink like a stone, just like Bob Dylan wrote about 60 years ago back in 1964.

• Jim Wise is a Sterling city alderman.