Gillespie County, Texas
Housing Needs Assessment
The Challenge
Gillespie County leadership, including the Gillespie County Commissioners Court and the Fredericksburg City Council, were concerned with the perception of a lack of affordable housing options within the county. Sustaining and growing existing businesses and the community’s ability to attract new businesses was seen as contingent on the availability of attainable housing for Gillespie County employees. The community held various views on what constituted “affordable housing” none sufficiently grounded in practical research to serve as a basis for a defined strategy to address the issue.
The Approach
The Gillespie County Economic Development Commission hired TIP Strategies and Diana McIver & Associates to provide a housing needs assessment for the county. The consulting team created an online survey to poll residents, employees, and area employers regarding housing options and preferences within the county. The community’s existing housing stock, future development, and economic profile were analyzed. Major employers were also interviewed to identify employee’s place of residence as well as salary, to determine if the existing housing stock and planned housing development will meet the needs of current and future residents.
The Outcome
Results from the on-line survey, census data and data collected from major employers showed that the gap between household income and housing costs is broad and widening. Gillespie County’s major employers are the hospital, school district, WalMart and the local grocery store. The salaries of the majority of employees are, and will continue to be, at the lower end of the pay scale and the median home prices in the county far outpace the median household income. TIP provided the county with strategies to address the housing crisis. These included untapped government programs, ways to encourage nonprofit, for-profit and public/private housing development, and relevant best practices around the country. TIP also provided an assessment of future housing demand at a range of price points.
Greg Snelgrove Executive Director Gillespie County Economic Development Commission 302 East Austin St. Fredericksburg, TX 78624 8309976523 830.997.6523 gcedc@fbgtx.org
