Full-time employees living in their vehicles. Two families totaling eight, doubled up in a two-bedroom house. The guy living in an unheated garage. Another living in a tent in the woods. The family with small children living in a camper. These are just several housing insecurity situations I encountered when working for United Way of Mason County just a few years ago. All the adults were full-time employees in our community who could not find housing. My job was to assist them. I almost always failed, not for lack of trying, but because there was usually nothing available. By the time I left United Way in 2022, the situation had grown even worse.

In August 2023, Bowen National Research completed a housing needs assessment for Mason County, which showed that 2,430 more housing units were needed to meet the needs of people currently living and working in the county. The anecdotal evidence I had from my United Way days was confirmed. The study also showed that more than 38% of current employees commute into Mason County to work, many of whom probably do so because it’s almost impossible to find housing here. Additionally, 21% commute more than 50 miles one way! In my new role as Economic Development Director, I question how long some of these employees will continue to commute before they take a job closer to home. Our scarcity of housing is not only a basic needs problem but also an economic development problem, preventing some employers from filling key positions and growing their businesses and organizations.

The housing crisis is certainly not just confined to Mason County. It is a crisis across the state and indeed the nation. However, like many tourist destinations, Mason County has the added variable of the seasonal/recreational housing market. And it shows. Our housing needs assessment indicated that 25% of our existing housing stock is comprised of seasonal/recreational units, thus only 75% of our existing housing units are occupied by people who live in Mason County year-round. Contrast these figures with Michigan at-large, at 6% and 94% respectively, and it’s clear that Mason County’s housing scarcity is more intense than in most areas in the state.

What does this housing scarcity mean for our Mason County community? It means we have trouble filling key positions, as it’s hard to keep talent and attract talent when there is nowhere to live. Whether it’s students who were raised in Mason County and would like to stay or professionals who would like to move into the county, the lack of housing limits our talent options. Are we okay with losing out on the best teachers? Having police officers who work in Mason County but commute from one or two counties away? How do we fill vacancies for nurses and emergency medical technicians if they have no place to live? For those who are raising children, will your kids need to leave Mason County even if they don’t want to, because they can’t find housing?

When we say we need more housing, it’s not to bring droves of new people here and turn Mason County into “the next Traverse City.” It’s to house people who already work here and people who can fill key positions to keep our school systems thriving, our health care sector responsive and our emergency services fully engaged in our community. As a community we have a responsibility to ensure that those who live and work here, and those we need to keep our community healthy and our economy vibrant, have safe and affordable places to call home. 

Learn more about our housing crisis and what you can do to help at Housing in Mason County - Chamber Alliance of Mason County.

– Kristi Lucas-Zimmerman