Roger Reinert has consistently defined housing as a need across ALL income levels. We have to grow our population. .05%, or 400 new residents, in the last decade is a failure. Not growing is stagnant, and stagnation leads to decline. But in order to grow our population we have to get serious about housing. Not 40 new homes, but 400. And across all income levels. The critical problem is that the Duluth housing market is stuck in the middle. Those who have the means overpay, or over rent, for stock that exists and is available. This puts downward pressure on the housing stock, resulting in a growing population in need of affordable housing. There are tangible steps we can take to ramp-up construction of for-purchase inventory – and it isn’t creating $195K tiny homes. These measures include addressing infrastructure costs, employers purchase price assistance, fast tracking downtown residential, and adding tax forfeited properties to the proven land trust model.