Survey Sheds Light On Housing Issues

Great Northern Development Corporation (GNDC) met with a few Glasgow city officials recently to reveal the results and comments from the housing survey that went out. Glasgow beat the usual return of surveys, which is usually around 20 percent, with nearly 44 percent of the 1,225 surveys that went out to residents.

On top of the survey questions, 176 written responses came in, some comments had nothing to do with city housing issues, but other issues within the city, while other comments discussed the cost of housing outgrowing the income range. Brianna Vine, housing specialist for GNDC, explained that they compiled all the data and found some interesting results. Questions ranged from how many people lived in the residence, to reasons residents moved to the area.

Data collected showed that close to half of those who answered the survey were born in Glasgow and a spike of people moving into the area between 1975-80. The largest spike of movement comes after 2008, with over 50 people moving in around 2010. The majority of those who answered said they wouldn't be moving within the next five years. A majority said they would stay here because the were born and raised here, because they like the community and because of family.

Also interesting was the majority of those who answered were between the ages of 50-54, with most of surveys participants between the ages of 50-84. Reasons those surveyed said they would move varied from senior housing to bigger housing. The majority that answered the question said they would move for family and relationships, but 404 of those surveyed did not reply to the question.

One interesting aspect of the survey revealed that there is a gap in income, and that there's a range that goes from under $13,000 a year to over $115,000. The larger median annual income in the survey was between $20,000 to $40,000, with a spike of income between $100,000 to $150,000.

A portion of those surveyed were renters, 119 out of the 534 that replied, and 344 said they were not receiving rental assistance. Around 170 surveys that came back said they didn't pay a mortgage or rent payment. A rather large number of those surveyed, 489 to be exact, said they lived in a single residence, with 204 reporting they had three bedrooms in the dwelling.

Top reasons that people said they were finding a place difficult were that housing was too expensive, there is no affordable houses, no affordable rentals and pets were a problem. Top issues survey recipients said they experienced in their current housing were air leaks around windows and doors, inadequate insulation or weatherization, doors or windows that stick or do not open and cracked and crumbling foundations.

Once the city officials had a chance to review the survey results, they briefly discussed what the next steps would be. The survey was part of the process to collect data and create a housing plan to help find funding for lower income housing and hopefully attack some of the lack of housing issues in Glasgow. GNDC said that they would begin to collect census data and create a draft that would be presented in November.

Other issues discussed were what types of ordinances could the city put in place to help keep landlords and property owners from letting properties go. The city could be looking at other ordinances in place in other cities in order to help reduce some problems, but it was brought up that enforcement is usually the issue with these types of ordinances and regulations.