The US Mountain Community Housing Summit conference focused on regional solutions that were both creative and innovative. The Eagle County Housing Task Force seeks to change the NIMBY mindset throughout the County to YIMBY and we realize that this changing of the mind will take time and all Task Force members are committed to a minimum of ten years of service. During the inaugural year of the Task Force we brought together government officials, developers and local residents to discuss ways to better build housing throughout the Valley. Best practices for a public/private partnership have been a topic of ongoing discussions at the Task Force’s meetings and were discussed in detail by representatives from 26 mountain communities at this month’s housing conference.
I am encouraged by the great strides achieved the past 18 months in housing throughout our region and remain optimistic moving forward that the ECOHTF’s ten year vision of increasing the supply of homes and that local resident-occupied, attainable homes, which may or may not be deed-restricted, will become an essential component of the region’s infrastructure, necessary to sustain a healthy, vibrant and economically and socially diverse community. Residents and government officials of our towns and county need to remain active in the housing conversations and need to compromise their positions in order to create stronger and healthier neighborhoods for all of us!
Bobby Lipnick, M.D., M.B.A., LEED AP
Co-Chair of The Eagle County Housing Task Force