I wonder how many local high school students would like to get accepted to a great college or university, and to get scholarship money to help pay for their expensive tuition?
Meanwhile, the “Old Guard” in our local government need to invite students to participate in, and help guide our urban planning.
It would be very helpful if our STR Task Force, BOCC, and County Manager would provide the public with an online STR map which students could use to inspect STR density, and provide feedback on STR properties inadvertently missing from the Archuleta County STR data base.
If an online STR map were made available, our local government, and task force(s) could invite Pagosa Springs High School students to create a Student Interest Group interested in local government. ‘SIG Government’ could use a free and useful online STR map to do research on STRs. The STR map would help student’s to publish unique market analysis reports on STR density in Archuleta County, and STR density in the town of Pagosa Springs.
I would be very interested in reading and understanding our local student’s perspective on the impact of STRs, and socioeconomic impacts to local work force housing, public policy, and much much more!
Leading Colleges and Universities have established Texas A&M established the Texas Real Estate Research Center to disseminate their findings through courses, conferences, video and digital, and print publications.
If I were a recruiter for a leading university — for example, a recruiter for the College of Business — I would find very attractive student applications that include direct participation in student organizations (like SIG_Government), and students who directly helped publish digital and print publications focused on the role and responsibilities of local government to establish rules, regulations, and public policy — in the field of urban planning.
I appreciate that our County Manager, BOCC, and the STR Task Force helped commission the Root Policy study. I have also taken the time to try and appreciate the view of out-of-town private investors, local Realtors, and residents providing property management services. I hope some day to have an opportunity to read and understand our local student’s perspective on the impact of STRs.
Maybe someday, one of these same students would choose to return to our local community with a Bachelor’s degree in business, run for public office, and lead a local business that helps manage and deploy the building trades. This could be a novel ‘bottom-up’ approach to help rebuild local capacity to grow local affordable workforce housing inventory.
I hope that local students, taxpayers, the STR Task Force, the BOCC, and our County Manager will look into Texas State Senate Bill 1979.
If you are the type of individual that enjoys watching ‘live’ public policy, then watch SB1979 being passed on May 3, 2023. Session video and all other Senate webcast recordings can be accessed from the Senate website’s Audio/Video Archive.
Students need to watch Senate Session (Part 1) for the State of Texas (2:51:30 – 3:18:54). State Senator Bryan Hughes discusses the Christmas movie “It’s a Beautiful Life”, and the role of Mr. Potter “the bad guy”, and George Bailey “the good guy”. SB1979 passed with a Final Vote of 22-2.
SB1979 commissioned a study to find out how much of the recent cost growth in home prices is due to large corporations increasingly purchasing single-family dwellings. Senator Hughes points out that more Texas homesteads are purchased by large corporations or institutions than in any other state:
“This picked up after the mortgage crisis in 2008, and accelerated dramatically in 2021”
“In fact, in 2021, did you know 28% of the homes purchased in Texas were purchased by large institutional buyers?”
“That’s the highest rate in the nation”.
In Texas, corporate entities often focus on buying lower priced houses in the “starter home” tier, preventing young, low-income and middle-income Texans from purchasing their first home. 700,000 single-family rental properties are currently held by large investors in Texas. By 2030, it is projected that 7.7 million single-family rental properties will be held by large investors (40% of all single family rental properties) in Texas.
SB 1979 aims to help Texas policy makers by commissioning a detailed study from Texas A&M’s Real Estate Research Center. Student researchers are being enlisted to help compile data on how institutional buyers are affecting the housing market in Texas. Students will analyze how many homes are bought and sold by large buyers, the number of institution-owned rental properties, where the properties are located, and estimate the market value of the single-family rental properties.
I hope parents reading this posting will consider contacting friends and family, students and faculty at Pagosa Springs High School. Ask friends and family to consider reaching out to STR Task Force members, BOCC members, and our County Manager.
I plan on emailing a Pagosa Springs High School guidance counselor who provides students a “College Talk”.
I pledge to ask Pagosa Springs High School staff to encourage interested students to form ‘SIG Government’, do their research, publish digital and print articles… get accepted to a great college or university… get scholarship money… and hopefully return someday to our community to run for public office, and lead a local business.
… and get the votes needed to win key roles in local government to help get “Old Guard” out-of-office.