The Flagstaff City Council declared a housing emergency last week, pledging to find ways to make housing more affordable.
Mayor Coral Evans said Flagstaff is so used to living with runaway housing costs that it has gotten used to it.
There’s even a local joke about it: poverty with a view.
But coronavirus has exposed some of the city’s economic weaknesses, and housing is high on the list. She said a recent study showed nearly half of the city’s households are low income, and many live paycheck to paycheck.
“It’s like you can live in a state of crisis for so long that it becomes numbing and I guess, mundane, average, or that’s just the way it is," Evans said. "And so our council was very bold in saying this is not acceptable.”
The resolution calls for the creation of a housing plan for the next 10 years.
Mayor Evans joined The Show to talk what the latest action means.
