A recent housing study found that Northern Kentucky needs more than 6,600 new housing units in the next five years in order to keep up with workforce needs.
But … how?
Many people have many ideas, but at the end of the day, said Tara Johnson-Noem, “it’s not going to be a one-size-fits-all kind of thing.”
The executive director of the Northern Kentucky Area Development District worked with people across the region to come up with a report released this year that offers a menu of options that communities can use to find solutions that work for them.
Our next Community Conversation, scheduled for June 12, delves into some of the solutions that leaders across the region have tried and how other people can put these ideas into place in their own communities.
If you go:
What: LINK nky Community Conversation event on housing
When: Thursday, June 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Where: Erlanger branch of the Kenton County Public Library
If you’re not familiar with our Community Conversations events, we hold them in conjunction with our bi-monthly super issues in print, which go to every single household in Northern Kentucky via direct mail. The topics for the super issue and the corresponding Community Conversation are the same, but the event is intended to be almost a live, in-person version of a news story that allows audience members to ask questions and interact with the panelists in real time.
We also have representatives from organizations across the region who provide help and resources when it comes to housing – you can ask questions and take information with you that night.
For the June 12 event, we invited people who share interesting, creative solutions they’ve seen or led when it comes to solving our housing shortage. You can arrive as early as 5 p.m. to the Erlanger branch of the Kenton County Public Library to peruse these resources, then the program starts promptly at 6 p.m.
Media personality and former WCPO anchor Evan Millward moderates our conversations, making sure to stay focused on positive solutions and ideas that could benefit the wider community.
At the housing event, you’ll meet Margery Spinney, who co-founded Renting Partnerships with Carol Smith in Cincinnati. The nonprofit helps renters build financial equity through resident participation in community management — all while keeping rents low.
NKU history professor Eric Jackson will talk about the history of zoning in Northern Kentucky, how that has led us to some of the struggles we are dealing with now, and share ideas about how changes to zoning could help make way for more local housing.
AM Titan Principal Anthony Bradford founded A.M. Titan in 2015 with an aim to restore neglected and blighted properties. You’ll hear from him about how he’s gone about investing in communities through development by both building new developments and restoring blighted buildings.
You’ll also get to hear from Maggie Whitfield, an elementary school teacher who purchased a home in Newport through a program run by local housing nonprofit Neighborhood Foundations.
The in-person event is free, but we ask that those interested RSVP here so we can make sure we have enough seats. If you want to watch but can’t make it to the in-person event, you can also watch live on our Facebook page.
We’re looking forward to seeing you there!