PHILADELPHIA — When the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan in 2021, Jawad Moradi feared he would be put in prison, or worse.
Five years earlier, he had earned his master of laws degree at Duke University. Because of his U.S. legal education and interaction with colleagues in the United States and elsewhere, he was at risk. And as a member of a minority population that had been targeted by the Taliban, he was even more vulnerable.
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The median cost of a home in Yellowstone County increased 1.9 percent between 2022 and 2023, a marked decrease from recent years, according to data collected by the Billings Association of Realtors (BAR).
But, after a few years of massive price jumps including a 16.1 percent increase between 2021 and 2022 and 19.2 percent increase between 2020 and 2021, homes were 50 percent more expensive last year than in 2019, with a median price of $367,000.
So far, in 2024, 246 homes have been sold, with a median sales price of $358,950.
According to Bob Leach, a local realtor who tracks housing market data, the median family income in Billings is $72,300, making the affordable price of a home somewhere between $143,700 and $237,000. And that’s with 20 percent down, which few first time home buyers even have.
These days, there isn’t much inventory that falls within that range.
Between 2018 and 2023, there was an 85 percent decrease in homes under $200,000, and a 75 percent decrease in homes between $200,000 and $300,000, according to Leach.
Meanwhile, there was a 51 percent increase in homes between $300,000 and $400,000, a 360 percent increase in homes between $400,000 and $500,000, and a 644 percent increase in homes over $500,000.
Yet last year the market showed signs of cooling. It was the first year since 2021 in which sales prices were lower than list prices. Houses also were on the market for longer, with a median of 16 days on the market, compared with 5 and 6 days for 2021 and 2022 respectively.
And there were just 2,115 homes sold in 2023, the fewest number of homes sold in a year since at least 2018. Home sales are down 30 percent last year compared to 2020, according to Leach.
This is partially due to higher interest rates, according to Mikayla Kovash, President of the Billings Association of Realtors.
“We got used to seeing the four percent interest rate, but historically, seven percent is not a terrifying interest rate,” she said.
Kovash said that if buyers hold out for lower interest rates, they may end up paying more in a more competitive housing market.
“Even if they’re paying a seven to eight percent interest rate today, they may be getting a home for 10 percent less than they would in a lower interest rate market,” she said.
NEW HOMES
An additional 1,122 new housing units were built in Billings last year, including 272 single family homes, 94 duplexes, 62 townhouses, and 687 units in multifamily complexes.
This was more units built than in 2021 and 2022 combined. There were no more than 500 residential building permits per year from 2018 through 2022, though the city averaged 675 new units from 2003-2008.
“We’ve been underbuilding for a long time,” Leach said.
There were 2,670 new housing units built from 2020 through 2023. Of these new homes, 44.6 percent were single family homes and 35.6 percent were in multifamily complexes. The remaining 20 percent were townhouses and duplexes.
The city’s Building Division does not track whether multifamily units are rentals or condos, but Jessica Fust, the department’s director, said the majority are rentals.
This is a cause of concern for Leach, who believes there should be more pathways to home ownership, such as building more “entry level” homes, or homes under 1,400 square feet.
There has been an average of just 39 entry level homes built per year in Billings over the past eight years.
Meanwhile, there are 6,791 households in the city on waitlists for affordable and public housing. This is up from 6,200 on wait lists in 2020, according to a report by the city’s Community Development Division.
“There is a housing deficit of over 4,700 units for households with incomes less than 30% of the AMI [area median income],” the 2020 report reads.
And behind all the markets and development is zoning, or the regulations created by the government about what can be built on a given piece of land. The city overhauled zoning in 2021, the first major update in 40 years.
And yet this past January, City Council passed an initiative to explore 10 new zoning changes, including getting rid of minimum parking requirements and encouraging mixed residential/commercial development.
“There have been big changes in the housing market since recode was adopted,” said Councilman Tom Rupsis, who proposed the initiative.
At the state level, zoning changes to promote development that passed through the legislature last year are facing legal challenges.
“I’m not really of the mindset that we should wait for the state to figure their stuff out,” Rupsis said. “This is us taking fate into our own hands.”
Consultants Leon and Will Younger with PROS Consulting updated Norfolk City Council members on the results of a community survey about parks and recreation needs in the community. The survey was conducted as part of the creation of a long-range master plan for parks and rec development in the city.
The Youngers, who are spearheading work on the master plan, said 594 residents completed the survey and that they were pleased that the number of respondents to the survey exceeded their expectations. Will Younger explained the various aspects of the master plan importance of community engagement in the plan process.
“Really, we looked at it through three ways, where are we today, where are we going tomorrow as a community and how do we get there,” Younger said. “… we really did a lot of community engagement, which included a statistically valid survey of the community, an online survey that … anybody could take, we looked at demographics and trends in the community, how is the community changing and what are the recreation trends.”
Will Younger said part of their work was also a comparison of parks and rec facilities in Norfolk with other similar communities in Nebraska.
Of the almost 600 participants, 420 surveys were submitted directly to PROS while 174 surveys were submitted online. Some of the key survey results include:
— 32% wanted multi-use paved trails.
— 23% wanted an indoor swimming or leisure pool.
— 18% wanted a natural or wildlife habitat area.
— 16% wanted more indoor fitness areas.
— 16% wanted an indoor walking or running track.
Survey respondents also prioritized parks and rec programs they’d like to see in the community, including:
— 34% wanted adult fitness and wellness programs.
— 18% wanted nature programs.
— 17% wanted active senior programs.
These priorities were identified from a list of dozens of potential parks and rec improvement possibilities for the community. PROS also conducted two community engagement meetings and formed five focus groups to address proposed parks and rec needs in the community.
According to city parks and rec director Nathan Powell, the master plan is part of the city’s overall effort to improve facilities in the community over the next several years, and the presentation on Tuesday was an effort to gain preliminary feedback from council members.
“What we want to hear from you is feedback on what you want to see in the master plan, and what you don’t want to see in the master plan, and give us something that we can bring back in April for the master plan presentation.”
While council members said they were pleased with the results of the survey and progress on the master plan to date, there were questions about how the city would fund the projects. Council president Shane Clausen said he believed identifying specific avenues for improvement project funding needed to be part of the presentation.
“I feel like we’ve got the cart ahead of the horse maybe a little bit if we don’t know the revenue funding part of it,” Clausen said. “We talk about hopes and dreams, but we don’t talk about how it all comes together in a feasible way that’s community driven.”
Leon Younger said most communities the size of Norfolk employ a variety of funding methods for master plan projects similar to the one they plan to propose to the city. PROS will be working with city staff to identify funding alternatives for the proposed improvements, although they said that grant programs, community partnerships and donations or additional hotel/motel or alcohol were possibilities.
Councilman Justin Webb said that although he appreciated the survey results, it was important that the community understand that some of the proposed projects, like an indoor swimming pool, would not be considered by the council until the public made it clear that it was a priority.
“We keep talking about this indoor pool a lot. There’s several elected bodies that serve the citizens of Norfolk. I don’t think an indoor pool … I don’t think this elected body is interested in pushing this. … That’s a community-driven thing that’s not going to come from council,” Webb said. “I appreciate the survey and the results, but a lot of these projects, I don’t want the perception that this is what we’re trying to do here on at the council.”
Mayor Josh Moenning also clarified that the parks and rec master plan was an important step for the city on being able to procure possible grant funding for any future projects.
BOISE — Wildland fire management is a year-round endeavor, even with snow covering Idaho rooftops.
On Tuesday while visiting the National Interagency Fire Center, Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis announced a $138 million national investment to support wildland fire management. The funds are part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is investing $1.5 billion over five years to support wildland fire management across the United States.
According to Daniel-Davis, the department has allocated over $70 million to Idaho from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for post-fire rehabilitation projects and plant fuels management. Over $22 million of those funds have already been spent.
While it’s unclear how much of these new funds will be directly allocated to Idaho, the state will likely benefit from the funds indirectly, as they’re slated to be used to fight wildfires in the west.
“Boiseans know in the summer, we’re affected by fires,” Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said. “Whether it be the smoke, the last couple years from Canada, or the planes that are flying over that we all watch that are deployed to protect the lands that we love.”
The new funding is intended to support modernization including wildland firefighter training, reducing the risk of extreme wildfires, restoring landscapes that were recently damaged by wildfires and advancing fire science.
“We all know that the fire season is not really a season anymore,” Daniel-Davis said during Tuesday’s press conference. “The frequency and intensity of the fires are also impacting urban areas like Boise — they’re increasingly threatening more homes, businesses and communities every single year.”
These funds come during an “El Niño year,” which could mean some changes during the nation’s typical fire season, Grant Beebe, assistant director for the fire and aviation for the Bureau of Land Management, said. El Niño conditions are typically warmer and dryer in the Northwestern U.S.
“Yes, we’ve got snow on the ground. And yes, the snowpack from this year has been reduced everywhere over last year, so we had a record-low year … we are not expecting to have another record low year this year just based on snowpack,” Beebe said. “Everything depends on how lightning comes in, what kind of dry heat we have during the summer, and so it definitely is tough to predict in January what’s going to happen June through September, the peak fire season, but I think we are all expecting that we’re going to have another busy season.”
The investment is a reflection of some of the more intense fire seasons the U.S. has experienced in the last few years, with the expectation that those trends will continue in the future, Beebe said.
“We’re planning for the worst, hoping for the best,” Beebe said.
Investments like this one are made to strengthen wildland fire programs throughout the U.S., Daniel-Davis said. The Department of the Interior is investing $1.5 billion over the course of five years through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to support wildland firefighting forces and aid communities and lands facing wildfire threat. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also created the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, which is accountable for making recommendations to improve federal policies related to the mitigation, suppression, and management of wildland fires in the United States.
“Funding from the Biden-Harris administration is also providing for major and important reforms to better support federal wildland firefighters, including a temporary pay raise and new mental wellness and health programs as we adapt to our new emerging ongoing climate reality,” Daniel-Davis said.
Emily White is a reporter for the Idaho Press. She covers Boise and Ada County with an emphasis on education. Follow her on Twitter @EmilyWhite177 and email her at ewhite@idahopress.com