According to figures compiled by the city and posted on its website, the average cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment in 2015 was $1,021 a month, almost 12 percent more than the state average of $913 a month. “Even with the current city council’s commitment to increasing the supply by working with low income tax credit developers, I anticipate we’ll still have a significant shortage of affordable housing for the foreseeable future.” “We’re seeing very little affordable housing, since the city can only incentivize developers to include affordable housing but we cannot require it,” Barotz said. Councilmember Celia Barotz said plans for high-occupancy housing need to target the workforce, not just students.Įven with all of the new development of single- and multi-family housing, Barotz said, much of it is out of reach for the average Flagstaff worker. The Flagstaff City Council has committed to supporting the development of affordable housing for renter and buyers as one of its top priorities for the next two years. Unhappy locals have recited their complaints at city council and High Occupancy Housing Task Force meetings, ranging from a fear they will drive down existing home values to not matching the character of the city to obstructing views and increasing traffic without providing enough parking. Some residents have protested large, off-campus student housing projects near NAU over the effect they’ll have on the surrounding community. We are responding to those who know that every 1,500 new students at NAU equate to an additional $30 million in Arizona’s economy and a more informed citizenry.” We are responding to business owners who recognize that our programs create a better-trained workforce for a vibrant economy.

“NAU is not growing just for the sake of growth itself. “We cannot afford not to (grow),” Cheng said during the 2017 Campus Forum. NAU administrators have also struggled to accommodate the growth, having to turn away students seeking on-campus housing in 2013, but NAU President Rita Cheng has consistently emphasized a pro-growth agenda as the only option. With the Arizona Board of Regents aiming to increase enrollment by another 15 percent by 2025, city leaders and neighborhood activists are faced with accommodating even more students. The growth has strained traffic infrastructure and housing capacity, and rental prices are among the highest in the state and are rising sharply. – Northern Arizona University’s enrollment at its Flagstaff campus has grown by 42 percent in the past ten years, and the roughly 22,000 Lumberjacks make up almost a third of the relatively small mountain town’s residents.

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