My blog post, Analysis of Housing in Whitewater, received a decent amount of attention.
Very clear to anyone paying attention is the opposition by a strong majority of city residents to subsidize apartments. As I talk to people (in the hundreds now), not one person has taken the side of TIF for apartments. Not one.
Housing here in Whitewater is not a partisan issue.
An hour after the post, the city produced an internal document with talking points and strawmen to directly counter my data. My summary of the document is that the city believes nothing can get done without significant government intervention. True or not, this is sad.
Should the city be taking sides in a top election issue?
The doc has been iterated several times. I could ad nauseum provide data to counter the talking points from the city; however I am going to address a small portion.
This statement is almost entirely false. It is also the foundation for the massive resources being spent on this socialist-style urban planning.
Let’s pick it apart.
Let’s start by asking the voters. Do you feel that the city should be giving builders and landlords millions of dollars in subsidies for apartments?
The claim that our housing market is “directly contradicted by every major housing market indicator” is false.
I produced data/experts that documented that 2-4% vacancy in a college town is typical and normal. One can disagree with this; however one cannot say that “every major housing indicator” contradicts.
The city’s data does not take into account the college. It simply is the high range for a city without a college. It is misleading.
Now let’s take the 0.7% vacancy rate statement. I dug into this. Do you want to know where this originates?
From the 2024 Tracy Cross report to the city:
So this company, paid for by the city, looked at 240 units in Whitewater and 178 units in Elkhorn. The result (with all 178 units in Elkhorn occupied) was 0.7% (including the Elkhorn units).
This is where the 0.7% vacancy rate originated (not kidding). 240 units (~5% of the total units in Whitewater) and 128 units in Elkhorn. This is the basis for the city declaring a “crisis” and ultimately spending massive resources on apartments.
If I were to provide this kind of data to my execs at work to justify millions of dollars of spending, I would be fired.
I contacted Jim Heckendorf of the Whitewater Landlords Assn and asked him if the city has reached out for vacancy numbers in the last two years. The city has not reached out to the Whitewater Landlords Assn to ask for vacancy numbers.
There certainly is the appearance that the housing data leading to the “crisis” was cherry picked. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of objectivity or logic behind it. If I find out I am wrong here, I will gladly admit I am wrong.
So this keeps getting better…..
After I posted my analysis, I had landlords in Whitewater reach out to me. Roughly, their rental vacancy rate ranges between 4-40(summer)% during the year and averaged 10% during the year.
This led me to investigate why exactly the city is aggressively pursuing these subsidized apartments.
I looked at the city’s website for Strategic Goals and Milestones for 2024-2028. I figured that if the strategic iniatives included 800-1000 apartments, then at least we know what to do… change the strategic iniatives… But the iniatives put out by the city do not include the current direction for apartments.
Not a lot here about subsidized apartments. Lots of discussion here about single family housing…
Why has the city veered so far off course?
My hope is that the taxpayers in Whitwater convince the city to lay off the rentals. No one is complaining about possibly subsidizing single family homes.
Well, I would love to hear your thoughts.
I have a large blog post coming regarding the theological argument for soverienty and community (and responsibility).
And, as always …. peace,
-mike
Philippians 4:8-9
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is [g]lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Discerning Whitewater 