Housing Hawai‘i's Future

Thanks to Cutter González and the team at Welcoming Neighbors Network for highlighting our coalition's work to pass Hawai‘i's most significant statewide land use reforms in the last 40 years. Many hands make light work, and we're lucky in Hawai‘i that so many folks came together to support bills like SB 3202 and HB 2090. The future is bright with so many housing advocates working together! ???? https://lnkd.in/gJfTZAPN

I want to thank Ron Mizutani for profiling me on PBS Hawai?i's "What School You Went?" Ron asked insightful questions and allowed me to speak about my leadership journey and about the questions I grapple with today leading Housing Hawai‘i's Future and serving on the board of the Hawaii Community Development Authority. He also allowed me to shoutout some of the teachers who were formative in my life: mama, Uncle Claude, Eric Paul Shaffer, Elizabeth (Lyz) Soto, Tui Scanlan, Travis Thompson, Darron Cambra, Daniel Hugo, Cody Hensarling, Jonathan Cham, and Dr. John Hart. It was a true pleasure, and I hope you enjoy our conversation. https://lnkd.in/gneHQYi8

I'm so incredibly thankful for everyone who made the 2nd annual YP Cost of Living Summit a reality! On October 25th, the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii Young Professionals convened over 160 young professionals, policymakers, community leaders, and high school students at 'Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach to engage in solutions-oriented discussions about our high cost of living in Hawaii. Our goals were to get young people involved and keep our local residents in the state. Some of the many highlights: - participating in 11 financial literacy workshops - learning about Governor Josh Green's plans to make Hawaii more affordable - hearing from UHERO professor Steven Bond-Smith about the cost of living's impact on the economy - diving deep into housing and childcare issues with panelists Sterling Higa, Alana Kobayashi Pakkala, Billy Pieper, Scott Glenn, Chevelle Davis, MPH, Pamela Strode, and Candice Wong - brainstorming possible solutions with community-oriented individuals - connecting with Representatives Della Au Belatti, Luke Evslin, Linda Ichiyama, Greggor Ilagan, Trish Quema La Chica, Rachele Lamosao, Lisa Marten, Scot Matayoshi, Jackson Sayama, and Senators Stanley Chang, Troy Hashimoto, and Sharon Moriwaki Thank you to our amazing sponsors: Tradewind Group, American Savings Bank, ALTRES, Kobayashi Group, LLC, Nareit Hawaii, Premier Restoration Hawaii, MacNaughton, Spectrum Hawaii, Cades Schutte LLP, Coldwell Banker Realty, CEI Hawaii - Corporate Environments International, LLC, Hawaii Business Magazine, Kōloa Rum Company, Holomua Collective, Housing Hawai‘i's Future, Hawaii HomeOwnership Center, and People Attentive To Children.

"Hawaii’s affordable housing programs are designed to address one of the state’s most critical challenges: providing pathways to homeownership for working-class residents. However, excessive red tape means these programs are falling short, deterring the homebuyers they are designed for." Lee Wang, HHF Deputy Executive Director How do we overcome the "red tape" and obstacles to affordable homeownership for working-class residents? ?? ?? Lee Wang writes about the obstacles that may deter buyers in the homeownership process. He also offers some insight into how we can make housing within reach and efficient for those seeking affordable housing. Read more in his column featured in the Star-Advertiser! https://lnkd.in/d9apR_Ku

We are excited to share a new policy brief authored by six Policy Fellows this past summer! ?? Their brief offers interesting discoveries about the effects of owner-occupancy requirements, buyback programs, and equity-sharing programs on affordable housing. ?? The fellows also highlight the promise and peril of deed restrictions. Mahalo to our Fellows: Satya Fisher, Annalise Lambert, Liam Lynch, Damien Chang, Adrea Sipalay, and Faith Christy Soliven ?? We hope you take a minute to check out their research! ?? POLICY BRIEF: DEED RESTRICTIONS IN MAUI COUNTY: https://lnkd.in/gzy9BQiZ

Hawai‘i has dozens of working groups, task forces, and councils dedicated to “workforce development.” However, these groups rarely advocate for building workforce housing. This is a missed opportunity. Why Are We Short? ?? Healthcare, hospitality, education, civil service: all these professions suffer from workforce shortages. Nurses are in short supply. Hotels can’t staff up. Public schools are recruiting teachers from the Philippines. Some government departments have 25% vacancies. Why? In part, because wages are poor when adjusted for cost of living. In part, because we have an aging workforce and a shrinking population. Educate and Pay? ?? Advocates often talk about education as the solution to our workforce woes. But education doesn’t seem like a long-term solution with our population declining by roughly 1% each year. Educate every student, and you still won’t have enough nurses and teachers. And education is transferable. If an educated nurse can earn the same pay in Washington state with a lower cost of living, she will take her certifications and leave. (Hint: tens of thousands of people leave Hawai‘i every year, including teachers and nurses.) Meanwhile, “competitive” pay means nothing without adjusting for cost of living. And our cost of living will be sky high so long as our housing costs are highest in the country. Education and higher pay are an incomplete solution. What’s the Solution? ??? The missing piece is this: Build more workforce housing. Build it close to job centers. Preference local workers. After all, housing is at least a third of household spending. And transportation accounts for another 15% of spending. If you want to reduce the cost of living, focus on housing and transportation. Because there’s no workforce development without workforce housing.

Mahalo to everyone who joined us at our recent event, where we partnered with AREAA members, Lenders, and Credit Repair Specialists to provide valuable resources on the path to homeownership in Hawai'i. Your presence and participation made it a success, and we’re deeply grateful to our collaborators who made this event possible. As we look to the future, we're excited to continue empowering our community with the tools and knowledge needed to make homeownership a reality for more local families. Follow along for more opportunities like this to learn about becoming a homeowner in Hawai'i's difficult housing crisis. ??

Why Sign the Stay Movement Pledge? Hear first-hand from signers in our new Pledge to Stay Series! ???? Get to know the stories ?? and personal insights behind why individuals believe in affordable housing solutions that can allow Native Hawaiians and locals to Stay in Hawai’i. ?? First up, we have Tiara Koba from Wailuku, Maui! Learn about how she values the importance of future generations inheriting the culture and communities of Hawai’i. ?? We invite you to sign the pledge at the link in our bio or go to hawaiisfuture.og/stay ???

Our executive director Sterling Higa appeared on PBS Hawai?i Insights to talk about zoning and how to solve our state's affordable housing crisis. https://lnkd.in/gdD96u64

Sterling Higa, executive director of the nonprofit Housing Hawai‘i's Future, called SB 3202 good policy that will counteract the high price of housing that he said causes 10,000 people to leave the state every year. He also criticized counties for not doing enough to solve housing shortages for over 50 years. “We need to be building missing middle housing (duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes) for young families and aging kupuna alike,” he said. https://lnkd.in/g2223dht