Many Iowa communities large and small are struggling with housing, particularly affordable housing, in light of continued complications due to supply chain issues and rising costs associated with new construction.
In northwest Iowa, Le Mars leaders are considering a plan called Vision 2045, which lays out the potential development of Le Mars going out more than two decades. City Economic Development Director Mark Gaul says community leaders are working to prioritize the plan’s ideas.
“Housing is a big priority in our community, especially when it comes to multifamily housing,” Gaul says. “We’ve got in excess of 4,000 people traveling to Le Mars every day to work. We have a very low vacancy rate in Le Mars, whether it’d be rentals or houses for sale, so housing needs to continue to be a priority for us.”
Senior housing is another key issue, according to Gaul, as he says most communities have senior housing, but few — like Le Mars — have enough of it.
“A lot of times what happens in communities our size is, older folks don’t leave the larger, single-family homes that they’ve been in for decades,” Gaul says, “and sometimes some of that is because of the choices aren’t available. So how do we transition some of our seniors into a different type of housing and how do we provide them the amenities that would make them want to move to that housing?”
The Vision 2045 plan for Le Mars aims to address housing, economic development, quality of life, tourism, transportation and downtown design.
(By John Slegers, KLEM, Le Mars)