But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
–There’s an affordable housing crisis, everywhere,0 but especially so in Rexburg.
–Idaho as a whole is short 58 affordable rental units for every 100 extremely low-income renter households (making 30% of median income).1
–Madison County’s population was the fastest growing in the state, increasing by 41%, going from 37,536 in 2010 to 52,913 in 2020,2 and has historically had one of the highest rates of poverty in Idaho.3
In the last few years, married students have had a waiting list at rental places in town over 500 long, the rentals in St. Anthony and Rigby have been full and they’ve had to live and commute from Idaho Falls, about a 40-minute commute, no laughing matter with Rexburg winters. Some multi-family housing has gone up, but not enough; more affordable housing is needed, desperately.
Complicating matters, the BYUI stranglehold on approved single student housing has led to an overbuild of those units (with the three-semester track system, many contracts end up sitting empty almost 5 months of the year) leading to decreased profitability and owner/investor flight. Some responded less than helpfully, by taking their single student-approved housing (3 bed 2 bath apts) off the market and converting them to condos, beginning at $300,000 also advertising them to investors as short-term rentals.4 I don’t know in what universe that would help create affordable housing? What student or newly graduated couple is going to be able to afford a $300,000 mortgage in this market? Currently, there are 12 townhomes in madison County for sale for under $250,000.
In today’s market, my family of 6 would not be able to afford a home in Rexburg. We are in our forties and bought a home for $215,000 eight years ago when my husband moved here for a job. We have the smallest house in what was supposed to be built as a much fancier neighborhood. Our income is above twice the local median income of $33,000 and we *still* wouldn’t be able to find a home in town. We are about a mile away from the Rexburg temple, and there is an empty field nearby that has remained undeveloped that came before the P&Z commission for approval to build a mix of starter homes and multi-family units. The problem? It’s surrounded by McMansions with views of the temple, who apparently happen to be extreme NIMBYs (Not In My BackYard). These folks organized an opposition group, using the local church building to meet, and showed up standing room only for the planning and zoning meeting. My daughter had a wrestling match that night and I wasn’t able to attend in person so I tried to watch the streaming video later.
I say tried because I had to turn it off. I couldn’t continue — watching it made me sick to my stomach. People were raising their voices about how a townhouse would ruin their view of the temple from their McMansion. After every one of my neighbors spoke about how this was the most awful thing that could happen to them and their property values and views — the crowd burst into applause and cheers. They even remarked excitedly about how it was like a revival. Many people repeated the use of the word “integrity” of their neighborhood as the reason why affordable housing should not be built anywhere near their own property. The proposed development would have a mix of starter homes, multifamily up to 13 units per acre, and green space. Maybe the thing that surprised me most is that even the folks who lived in smaller, older nearby homes joined the jeering crowd. 75 letters were submitted in opposition and 25 people spoke against it. The measure was defeated soundly.5
In retrospect I wish I could have attended and been the one local person to stand and say this:
Hi, My name is Kristine A and I am currently your neighbor. Our community has a need right now: it needs homes for families. Yes, some of these families will be BYUI students and will be in and out of some of these rentals. Some of them will be families who are moving into the community because of a job offer and can’t find a home that they can afford. I grew up poor, and this is the type of project that my large family would have fit into. In addition, if my family were to move into Rexburg today we would be in the market for these townhomes and starter homes. We are the family that you wouldn’t want living by you. We are the family that you have concerns about your kids having to grow up nearby, attending the same church and school. Everything you say about these prospective families you will be saying directly to me and my children. And yet somehow I am your neighbor now — am I just discovering how you feel about living near us?
This area of Rexburg has been in a socioeconomic bubble for too long. Our church boundaries have recently changed to include people of different socioeconomic backgrounds. This is an important challenge for us to love each other as ward families–as neighbors. Our ward communities have changed and, in my opinion, we’ve all been strengthened to have people who are different than us in our communities. Differences always provide opportunities for us to learn and grow and appreciate the strengths that others have and bring to the table. What does it say to (me and) the renters and the poor folks put in our wards that you’re ok seeing them on Sunday, just not off of your back porch? Who is our neighbor? Who are we allowing to become our neighbors? Where would Jesus be living if he lived in Rexburg?
I am called by Jesus and scripture to love and serve my neighbor, liberate the captive and oppressed, house the homeless and visit the imprisoned. If I can do that by allowing them to build and live in brand new homes next to me, I will volunteer! I would love to create a more diverse community in this corner of Rexburg so that this view of our beautiful temple can be shared by all sorts of folks who also love living here.
Ok, so I’m not sure if I would have included that Jesus part. I will tell you I felt awful after watching that video of my neighbors. This was the fruit of the tree that we preach to each other every week and brag about us being the special, chosen people of the Lord?? How was *I* going to walk back into my church building now that I’d heard how everyone feels about people like me living by them?
I came to the conclusion that I walk back through those doors for the very same reason: I am called to love my neighbor and my enemy, even when parts of my neighbor are my enemy apparently. What am I called to do? What I am hoping and asking others to do: to love and serve and give regardless of background and political viewpoint and socioeconomic status — even if it comes at a cost.
May I always apply my own sermon to myself.
Wheat & Tares 
In my experience Mormon wards being geographically based tends to amplify NIMBYism, especially in Utah and Idaho where the Ward boundaries are so small. It tends to go beyond the typical NIMBYism of not wanting to be around poor people/minorities, to not wanting to go to CHURCH with those people, so members tend to work extra hard to prevent affordable, or often any type of housing besides McMansions from being built.
For example, I remember in my first area on my mission in Northern Utah we had one ward full of single family homes and 1 apartment building with 6 a apartments. I remember multiple members telling us missionaries that they wish they could bomb/blow-up/destroy those apartments (really weird that multiple members had this same fantasy and felt the need to share it with 2 19 year olds). In other areas, I got to hear members complain about having apartments in their ward and try to convince local authorities to move said apartments out of their ward boundaries.
Reminds me of when the citizens of Draper, UT were thrilled when a temple was built there, yet blocked the construction of a Deseret Industries.
With my home state (NC) being one of the fastest growing states in the US, I have seen first-hand the effects of overdevelopment. Former landscapes of farmland have been turned into copy-and-paste neighborhoods. Entire habitats of wildlife have been destroyed in the name of “growth.” Rather than sensitively cultivating growth, developers cram as many people as possible into as tight of a space as possible while extracting as much money as possible. Quality of life be damned when there are a few bucks to be made.
That’s what got the Church in trouble in Tooele Valley. Initially, for the temple there, the Church wanted 167 acres of surrounding land to become high-density housing. However, this would have significantly clashed with the rural nature of the community (they had low-density one-acre zoning), and a petition was circulated throughout Tooele Valley to stop this. Before the petition could be submitted, the Church withdrew its plans for the surrounding land, with the First Presidency releasing a statement that said, “We acknowledge the efforts of those who have raised questions and sincere concerns about the Tooele Valley Temple project, including the residential development surrounding the temple. There is a sincere desire on the part of the Church to avoid discord in the community.”
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be a NIMBY. I fully understand the necessity of more housing (especially affordable housing), but growth has to be carefully planned and implemented. Unchecked growth will only backfire in the long run.
I went through some economically hard times several years ago, and was friends with women who were in comfortable economic circumstances. It was really weird to listen to the woman I consider my best friend express concern about how townhomes would change their neighborhood for the worse. I was renting a townhome at the time. Another friend was also whining about their neighbor renting out their basement. I guess she saw the weird look I was giving her, because she immediately started babbling about how her concern was the extra traffic. One rental unit. One. And the traffic was her concern? I don’t think so.
People who own their home are snobs about renters. High density housing is really the only way to address the housing crisis – townhomes, apartments, basement apartments. You can’t house everyone on a separate half-acre.
I was finally able to buy a home a few years ago. We bought into a neighborhood that was already built out. It’s older homes – so there are many rentals mixed in with owner-occupied, and duplexes and fourplexes. It’s a good mix.
Thanks for your comments: for the first 7 years in this ward we were geographically isolated from apartments. maybe 5 or 6 basements for married students and a few rental homes. It was nice! gotta admit!! my husband was EQP in a ward that was half apartments (newlyweds) have retirees in old ranch homes (nearly …) and he was gone almost every weekend. I get it! It’s hard when you’re overrun and a new couple gets up to speak and says thats their last time attending the ward because they found somewhere cheaper to rent. I’ve been there! But! I’m older and wiser I’d like to think.
ALSO I JUS WANNA SAY: i know that everyone NIMBYs everywhere! Liberals, conservatives, old, young, suburban, city, rural, etc. We are not unique! that is part of the gut check of the revelation: in this area of rexburg 99% of homes are on the ward list. I know of 2 nonmembers and 2 inactives in my old geographical ward of a few square blocks, so the ward dynamics of NIMBYism can be gutting, is what I learned.
Southern Saint: There can definitely be NOT helpful ways of development, my example included one: the overbuilding of single approved student housing especially when there are semester limitations enforced by the school that means every student only spends 7/12 months in your unit. I can tell you the solution for that is for SLC, CES, and BYUI to do away with their required approved student housing designation and let all of the housing just be community housing like other college towns. THAT would be smarter development wise for the community, students, investors, etc. They just can’t get their thumb off of the controls, though, in Rexburg.
I would be interested to know where in South Carolina there’s overbuild and affordable housing! Thought that wasn’t anywhere with our nationwide housing shortage.
The favorite ward I’ve ever lived in (besides the ward I grew up in) was located within a mile of both the downtown area of a large city and the campus of a large university. The ward consisted of a dozen or so married university students, some very low income families, some very wealthy families, some immigrants, a bit of everything. It was really very nice to be in a congregation with such a diverse group of people. I learned a lot just being around so many people that were very different from me, and yet it was nice to also have some people that were at a similar spot in life in the ward to relate to as well. If the Church could somehow form wards with this kind of balance everywhere, I’d love it.
I do think that having too many transient people in a family ward can be less than ideal, especially when raising kids. My current stake in the Mormon Corridor currently consists of a bunch of neighborhoods with a lot of pretty expensive houses as well as a number of lower income apartment complexes. Rather than draw boundaries that stick to the smallest possible geographical areas, our stake intentionally blends an area of houses with a portion of the apartments. As a result, each ward has a majority of families living in the houses and a smaller portion of members living in the apartments. I feel like that is a pretty nice way to do things. The apartments do have people coming and going at a high pace, but the ward still feels pretty stable since the majority of the people are established families in the houses.
Thanks, Kristine, for a post on such a sensitive topic. We really do have a long ways to go on how we treat the poor and even the lower middle class.
For the record, one-acre zoning is not good for the wildlife or the environment, in Tooele or elsewhere. It might be a nice place to raise a family, it might even attract deer, but huge manicured lawns, large homes with large footprints, a need for more roads because of the greater distance between homes, transportation energy costs to just get out of the suburbs, etc. are all environmentally negative factors.
If we’re truly concerned about the environment, higher density housing with nearby areas set aside for wildlife is a better way to go.
Lovely and, frankly, piercing, thoughts about what it actually means to love our neighbor. Thank you for sharing. I wish you could have stood up and said what you wrote also. I really hope it would have cut through all that cheering about “I’ve got mine, too bad for you” mentality.
We live in a medium density group of townhouses and I admit that we are sometimes unfairly negative towards renters in our little community. I need to remember that nearly all of us were once young(er) and poor(er) and needed to rent.
As a person who has spent his entire adult life in rental housing, this post rings completely true to me. Perhaps the most unfriendly place you’ll ever visit is an American suburb if you are looking for/living in rental housing. And as Kristine indicated in a comment above, this problem runs the political spectrum and takes all age groups. Liberal homeowners are as cruelly self-interested as conservative homeowners.
It honestly seems to me like the American real estate system is designed to keep neighborhoods barely affordable for people with income, and completely unaffordable for everyone else. When your entire sense of security is bound up in the value of your home, you will be a jerk to people like me. You will still want me to come to town and work the essential hourly-paying jobs with no benefits. Or you will want me to teach your kids for the lowest possible salary. But you will NOT want me living there. You will cling to a system which requires most people like me with limited income to commute from a smaller, grungier town 15+ miles away.
…and then, you will have a midlife crisis, decide it’s time to be your own boss, and you will open a trendy coffee shop/cafe/store in the town I’ve been commuting from. You will be joined by a cabal of other affluent enterprising types who come in to set up new condos, subdivisions, bed & breakfasts, and law offices. In about a decade, you will price me out of that town. And I will have to move again. Say it’s a shame. Say, “Sorry Jake. It’s the best economic system humans have come up with.” Please, though, never be mystified that lower income people don’t like you either. You can call it a Christian nation, but the economic system of this country is NOT Christianity.
Good points all around. Syracuse, UT is my hometown and, like most towns along the Wasatch Front, it has experienced out-of-control growth over the last thirty years. The first RC Willey department store was located in Syracuse, and it closed a few years ago when another one was built off of I-15 in Layton. Due to the closure, tax revenue in Syracuse has tanked, leaving the city scrambling to find new sources of revenue. Some businesses are moving in, but the city has primarily turned to high-density housing to fill the need.
As to be expected, HDH has gone over like a lead balloon around these parts. Most of it is being built near the town center, which already houses most of the commerce in town. I get pretty antsy about development closer to the GSL, which has included both HDH and a gated community (the town’s first). I suppose I have some NIMBY beliefs, but Tim is right that HDH is better for the environment than lower density housing. Environmental impact is a real concern, especially with the rapidly shrinking lake nearby, but most HDH opponents seem concerned only with the socioeconomic impact/traffic. Given a choice between McMansions and HDH, I’d much prefer HDH.
I’m lucky to live an extremely mixed neighborhood. Housing types are all over the map. Starter homes, bigger homes, apartments, small older homes, post-WWII homes, etc. There are BYU professors, school teachers, Hispanics, Native Americans, double incomes, retirees, university students, etc. I like the diversity.
I’m not comfortable with so-called Christians wanting to segregate into castes. This is not healthy. But it occurs everywhere. Don’t put a half-way house in my neighbor. We don’t want a homeless shelter nearby. Don’t put tiny houses in my neighborhood. No Blacks or Hispanics.
We have a housing shortage in our country. It seems to be fueled by the following issues:
The advent or Airbnb has taken so many houses off the market that are now vacant over 50% of the year. Yes Airbnb is great for mountain homes or beach homes but when regular neighborhoods decide to let long term rentals shift to short term rentals, there is now a housing shortage which leads to higher prices for renters. This one is tough for me as I love the Airbnb model and how it put hotel chains on notice, but it is creating housing shortages that hurt folks. But I do think we need to regulate the short-term rental business.
In my neck of the woods, there are legitimate houses that are vacant 11 months out of the year. Wealthy folks in other countries cannot own more than two homes in their country so they buy homes here that sit vacant 11 months a year except when they come on holiday. Due to covid, some of these homes are vacant all year since they cannot leave their home country. This is a real problem but these folks are willing to pay cash for these homes. It’s exacerbated the housing situation in America. This needs to stop.
Because funds like Blackrock are running out of equity investments with high ROI, they go around paying cash for foreclosed homes, and charging exorbitant rents that have priced folks out of the market completely. To me this one should be fixed yesterday. Blackrock should not be allowed to be in the real estate game. Full stop. Perhaps this will be an unpopular opinion, but it’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it.
After the last recession, homebuilders deliberately underbuild to avoid sitting on too much inventory. I understand that’s their prerogative as a business but it’s also created the mess we currently have.
Then you have Boomers wondering why Millennials aren’t buying houses like it’s some kind of choice. They literally cannot compete in this market. There are way too many forces working against them, as Jake C noted in his comment.
All this is to say, we as Christians all need to be aware of the issues facing the working poor. It’s not as simple as becoming self reliant. The economic system harms them and we have a duty IMO to help them. Rexburg should be ashamed of themselves but I doubt my neighbors would be any better. It seems the American dream of property ownership that has existed for 250 years may be ending.
My folks live in a geographically small but very affluent ward in Utah Valley. As the years go by, less and less young couples/families are moving in, and the now aging ward membership complains about not having enough younger families around to do the heavy lifting callings.
Map drawing games within the stake can only do so much, the result are stakes full of geriatric wards in the residential areas, while the stakes closer to the downtown areas have wards full of transient members, constantly moving around the city chasing better jobs and affordable housing.
You reap what you sow.