MISSOULA - Missoula County and the City of Missoula recently distributed their annual online Community Needs Assessment Survey. The purpose of the survey was to examine community perceptions of municipal and county needs pertaining to housing, infrastructure, public facilities, public services and economic development. The results of the survey will help inform funding priorities related to U.S. Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) grants.
The survey was open from Oct. 1 – Oct. 22, 2018. Of the 393 total respondents, 79 percent reside in the city and 21 percent live in the county (outside city limits).
A summary of the results are as follows:
• County residents felt the county should prioritize increasing affordable housing options for all income levels (29 percent county, 23 percent individual community) and improving infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, water, sewer, broadband, etc. (23 percent county, 18 percent individual community).
• City residents asserted the same priorities, preferring a focus on increasing housing that is affordable to all income levels (32 percent), improving infrastructure (18 percent), and improving public facilities like transitional housing, senior centers, mental health centers, etc. (16 percent). These opinions were echoed in the priorities that city residents listed for their own neighborhoods with preferences to improve infrastructure (25 percent) and increase housing that is affordable to all income levels (23 percent).
• Respondents felt the two areas of needed priorities regarding those experiencing homelessness include: mental health and substance use treatment services (35 percent) and diversion specialists that work to keep at-risk households housed (26 percent).
• In considering the homeownership market, 74 percent of respondents held the opinion that affordable housing for homeownership should be obtainable by those with moderate incomes (51 – 80 percent of Median Income) and 86 percent of respondents felt affordable housing for renters should be obtainable by those with very low incomes (31 - 50 percent of Median Income).
• Based on the direction Missoula is heading, most respondents felt that in the next three years, their life would either change for the better (36 percent) or would remain the same (31 percent).
For more information about the survey contact Eileen Flannigan-Lewis at eflanniganlewis@missoulacounty.us or call 406-258-4947.
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