Help the city understand community housing needs through countywide survey
December 7, 2022
For immediate release
Dec. 7, 2022
MUSKEGON, MI – A national housing research firm has come to Muskegon to determine the housing conditions in the city and the future housing needs of its residents and workers.
Residents, commuters and employers throughout Muskegon County can help Bowen National Research conduct a five-year housing needs assessment by taking an online survey. The survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MuskegonHousing and needs to be taken by Dec. 31, 2022. A QR code taking people to the survey is attached.
“As we scale our efforts to deliver more housing units to combat the nationwide housing shortage, we require more and higher quality data to direct these efforts,” City Development Services Director Jake Eckholm told Muskegon City Commissioners earlier this year. “As the city continues to focus on infill housing in our neighborhoods and we see greater and greater interest in multi-family housing development, we need to have this study so that we can both secure sound investments and not be flying blind as we attempt to revitalize our neighborhoods. We are currently seeing upward pressure on rental prices across all price points, and the best way to combat that is with more information that will lead to more units.”
Survey participants will be asked about their current living situation whether they live in the City of Muskegon or commute here for work and live elsewhere. The 10-minute survey will explore current perceptions and future community housing needs.
Bowen will use the survey results in conjunction with housing data such as the number of units, type of units, price points and other trends in the local market. The study results and recommendations provided the community later in 2023 will be used by city policymakers to identify and implement local solutions to an ongoing national housing crisis.
The City of Muskegon is collaborating with the Community Foundation for Muskegon County, which has made housing a top priority in the county, to jointly engage Bowen Research to study the local housing issues. The survey is a critical component of the Bowen study and the greater participation the better the data produced. Residents, commuters and employers are asked to widely share the survey link for optimum participation.
For more information on the housing survey or any city issue, contact:
Deborah Santiago-Sweet
(231) 724-6774