While the city and the Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce have spent the last several years marketing the Lakeshore as a vibrant place to move to through the Watch Us Go campaign, Muskegon officials now have to grapple with the reality that there are simply not enough places to live.
The findings came through a comprehensive housing study that determined the area needs nearly 3000 new homes by 2028.
Muskegon Development Services Director Jake Eckholm recently presented the findings to the Muskegon City Commission.
“I think we’re in a historic problem in our housing market,” Eckholm said. “We need a 20% increase in our housing stock.”
Despite the city recently launching a new housing initiative and the goal of building new homes to meet demand, Eckholm informed City Hall that Muskegon needs three times the housing units than city officials had previously thought.
“That’s shocking,” Eckholm told commissioners. “That number blew my mind.”
Some of the more eye-opening findings from the study, the rising cost of rent in the Nelson neighborhood is driving people out of their homes, while the biggest need for housing is in the range of 190-280k. While the city needs over 400 homes available in that range, there are currently only 5 listed on websites like Zillow and Homes.com.
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