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Maine lawmakers have some big ideas to try to address the housing crisis in the next legislative session. And they better, because it continues to be a big problem.
It may be repetitive and it may be overly simplistic, but it is worth emphasizing once again: Working to ease the housing challenges in the Bangor area and across Maine will take an “all-of-the-above” approach. First and foremost, that must mean an all-of-the-above approach to increasing Maine’s housing supply — particularly affordable housing.
There are many different forces and factors at play in this crisis, there should be doubt about that. But we must not lose track of the primary driver, as new BDN housing reporter Zara Norman pointed out recently, “that overall supply remains the biggest factor in the state’s affordability crisis.” For all the attention that things like short-term rentals get, the fact that construction of new housing falls well below demand is the issue at the core of the problem.
So when looking at the list of some ideas heading into next year’s legislative session, we think everything needs to be on the table. Proposals relating to zoning changes, tax incentives, rental assistance and other ideas are all part of a complicated puzzle. But as lawmakers rightfully consider a host of different ideas from across the political and ideological spectrum, they should remember that the most fundamental, if long-term, step Maine can take is to facilitate growth in the housing supply itself.
This thinking must extend beyond the halls of power in Augusta to every municipal board room as well. There needs to be a better balance between preserving local control and addressing statewide needs, at least when local control has too often been synonymous with NIMBYism and inaction.
That shift can and should come from local communities themselves, which must realize that these housing challenges are everyone’s to solve. If municipalities don’t want the state to step in with one-size-fits-all solutions, then they should be working on solutions sized specifically to their circumstances. But deciding that Maine’s housing crisis is something for other communities to solve is clearly no solution at all.
At both the state and local levels, policymakers need to be exploring ways to remove barriers to building more housing — of all types.
