OPINION: Statewide leadership needed for housing and homelessness

Alaska’s housing crisis did not happen overnight. It’s been building for decades. New home construction took a dramatic nosedive in the 2000s while short-term rentals, like AirBnB, have taken off. Costs of shipping, labor and construction material have ballooned as available land for development remains scarce. In the face of these challenges and unprecedented inflation, the state government has flat-funded critical housing organizations for more than 20 years. The result of all these factors has been a spike in homelessness. According to the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, 8,727 individuals have accessed services in Anchorage so far this year; 13,474 total have done so statewide. And too often, it has been those who have lost their homes who have taken the blame.

I am a family practice physician assistant who has cared for unhoused patients. One individual, let’s call him John, had a serious health condition that required daily medication. He often forgot to refill his meds, so I saw him whenever he turned up at the clinic. After these impromptu appointments, I would offer him transportation to the Sullivan Arena. He always refused. His reason was that given the choice of sleeping at a large shelter with strangers and little privacy, he would rather be outside.

We have all heard, “some choose to be homeless.” This statement absolves the speaker of any responsibility for the unhoused individuals they’re referring to. It implies that nothing can be done to help. If this statement comes from an elected official, and it has, it absolves the city or the state of responsibility. When an unhoused person declines to stay at a shelter, they are not choosing to be homeless. A shelter is not a home. People may prefer a camp over a homeless shelter. But they would almost never choose a camp over a permanent home.

John did not choose to be homeless. He was embarrassed about it, and if I didn’t know better, I would never have suspected that he was unhoused. The visible homeless that we see on our streets are the minority. The majority are invisible like John. The invisible homeless include elders with special needs, parents with children, young adults and minors, and many working people who hide their housing challenges. None of them would turn down their own place. Therefore, I am very supportive of the municipality’s partnership with nonprofits to convert hotel rooms into studio apartments with additional services for those who need them. This is a solution that should be implemented throughout the state.

Homelessness experts say that the solution for homelessness is housing. Lack of it, particularly affordable and workforce housing, is a big problem in Juneau, Fairbanks, Kodiak, rural Alaska and here in Anchorage. Our city’s vacancy rate for 2021 was 3.2%, one of the tightest on record. The limited housing that we do have is aging. The 2020 Census American Community Survey shows that 70% of homes in Anchorage were constructed prior to 1990. In the past decade, fewer homes were constructed in Anchorage than in any decade since 1950. Only 4,588 new homes were constructed versus 32,784 in the 1970s. The average price of a new single-family home is $436,577.

Our housing shortage has driven up the price of some rental units by as much as 30% over the past few years. According to Alaska Economic Trends, last year was Anchorage’s largest single-year rent increase in more than two decades. I have spoken with senior citizens in my district who are in danger of losing their apartments because of these rent hikes. Another driver of our housing shortage is the increase in short-term rentals. When someone can make several hundred dollars per night renting their home to tourists, why would they seek out long-term Alaskan tenants? The exact data for short-term rentals in Anchorage is incomplete but based on other parts of the country, they are decreasing our available housing. We need to prioritize long-term rentals.

Our cities can do more to incentivize new home construction, like deregulating zoning code and negotiating new land for development. But the state has a role to play as well. A start would be to significantly expand funding for housing organizations. Housing and homelessness cannot be solved by any one entity or organization. For too long our state government has sat back and watched others lead. That needs to change, and the time is now.

Andrew Gray is a candidate for Alaska State House District 20, which includes the U-Med area of East Anchorage.

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