Natalie Brown’s article “Do we really need those large houses?” resonated with this (non-LDS) retired family economist. Over the decades since the baby boom, while families have gotten smaller, houses have gotten larger. Besides the obvious result of using excessive resources to build, heat, cool and maintain each house, suburban sprawl grows, invading precious environmental spaces. Additionally, Utah housing developers continue to build and profit from extensive “big house” projects despite the consequences. And still we have a housing “shortage.” There is no paucity of residential square footage being built, it’s just not affordable to anyone except the wealthiest or people who accumulated housing equity over decades of home ownership.
Baby boomers of which I am one, have benefitted from family-friendly economic policies, like low-interest subsidies for a first home, a booming stock market that fed our retirement plans, and secure employment. Over the past 50 years our economic system has tilted to benefit those with the most resources, becoming more (and more) inequitable.
The unaffordable rents and mortgage payments families face today take my breath away. It is time to change the “not in my backyard” attitudes toward varied housing choices and consider how the large single-family house with large yards is gobbling up open spaces (in our rapidly growing state.)
Brown (eloquently) makes the case for smaller houses, higher densities and fewer water-guzzling lawns. Her suggestions are consistent with a need to address our overheating climate by adjusting our lifestyles to smaller houses, shorter commutes and incorporating walkable, bikeable infrastructure.
How can an individual help solve these problems?
Congress and our state legislators need to hear from many different voices calling their offices in a steady stream. Today is a good day to join with the voices of Citizens Climate Lobby and young conservatives to ask for legislation that brings equity in housing and urges our representatives to legislate for climate solutions.
Jean M. Lown, Logan
