Arguments against housing development should be rejected

It’s not always easy to find a place to live in Palmer.

The city’s quaint, charming downtown and core area consists mostly of single-family homes and a few apartment buildings. Finding an affordable place to rent can be tough, and the need for affordable housing for working families is clear.

It was this need that drove a developer to decide Palmer would be an ideal location for a new housing development catering to renters who can’t afford, say, a mortgage. Rent in the development would be in the range of $800 to $1,100 — not cheap, but not bank-breaking either. On its surface, you’d think this seems like a pretty reasonable idea.

Not to residents of a senior housing development located near the proposed project. In public testimony and numerous letters to the newspaper, these residents have complained that the new housing doesn’t fit with the “character” of the neighborhood. They argue that by bringing in younger residents and families, the area will somehow be degraded. Instead, they’d like to see a park, or perhaps more senior housing.

Many of the arguments put forth by these residents has bordered on the offensive. Terms like “Anchorage people” and “special needs” have been thrown around like pejoratives, with the clear connotation being that folks living in the area aren’t willing to live next to anyone who doesn’t exactly match their own socioeconomic status.

That’s a shame.

What any city needs to remain vibrant are young, working people who are willing to help build the community. That was true back in the 1930s, when hundreds of such people moved here to help colonize the Mat-Su. Those folks had little more than gumption and the shirts on their backs, and many went on to become founding members of families that remain here to this day. Their youthful spirit and desire to work hard is what allowed this area to grow and prosper.

The Mat-Su needs affordable housing to ensure the people who live and work here have places to raise their own families. This new development would do just that.

Palmer should reject the narrow-minded arguments of those who don’t want to see new development in their back yards and allow this project to move forward.