2000 Housing Conference Closes; Attendees Take Innovative Ideas Home to Their Communities

BOISE - The 2000 Idaho Governor’s Conference on Housing closed yesterday, ending a three-day discussion on the state’s most pressing affordable housing issues.

Nearly 400 people attended the conference, including developers, Realtors®, builders, lenders, governmental agencies, nonprofit housing organizations and state legislators. Former Governor Phil Batt directed the Idaho Housing and Finance Association and 27 planning partners to implement this housing conference. Held every three years, the first conference was in 1994.

Peter Dreier, a leading national housing policy analyst and director of Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, delivered Wednesday’s morning address. He discussed the challenges of getting affordable housing onto the agendas of many politicians who consider it a marginal issue. "Affordable housing faces a number of obstacles to getting the public’s attention," Dreier said. "It’s an isolated issue that many consider not a serious problem for enough people. The image of what government can do for housing has been tainted by high-rise housing ‘projects’ in larger cities. And the housing industry is too fragmented, representing too many different interests." Dreier encouraged the audience to get organized in creating a singular message to represent housing interests.

During the conference wrap up luncheon, conference attendees had the opportunity to listen to Scott Morgan, host of the National Association of Home Builders’ Home and Garden Television’s "Dreambuilders" series. Through an entertaining video presentation, Morgan shared inspiring and innovative stories to developing affordable housing solutions in communities nationwide.

"The key to making an affordable housing development part of its surrounding neighborhood is to take an inventory—find out the reason people want to live there, and then incorporate those indigenous qualities into the development," Morgan said. "If you’re able to do that first, then a way to make it affordable will usually arise."

Governor Dirk Kempthorne kicked off the conference yesterday during a pre-taped video message. Tuesday featured two other prominent keynote speakers. Mark Shields, a political analyst and nationally syndicated columnist who appears on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer" and moderates CNN’s "The Capital Gang" – shared his experience and insight on some of the major political events of the past 25 years.

Michael Pyatok, an award-winning architect of affordable multifamily housing developments explored the real-life solutions that make affordable housing both user- and neighborhood friendly at Tuesday’s luncheon.

In addition to the keynotes, the conference included 20 workshops in five industry tracks: banking/lending, builders/developers, government, nonprofit and real estate ownership and sales. Each workshop featured top experts in each field sharing ideas on such topics as manufactured housing, housing special needs populations, lending initiatives and strategic planning for the next five years.