MHP’s Community Development team and the Prince William Sound Economic Development District (PWSEDD) have recently began the process of collaborating with McKinley Research Group—an Alaska-based research firm—to conduct a regional housing needs assessment for the Prince William Sound region. The district includes cities of Cordova, Valdez, and Whittier, and Native Villages of Eyak and Tatitlek. There is a severe shortage of housing in all of the communities of the region, given the specific challenges around topography and accessibility, cost of construction and materials, and lack of developers and contractors. MHP is providing financial support to help offset the cost of the initial Housing Needs Assessment.

“Each community within the Sound truly has their own unique topographic and economic challenges that make housing development and affordability so critical and also even more difficult.” says Erika Brown, Community Development Manager at MHP and project lead “I am excited to be working with each community to identify the best way to engage and involve their residents throughout this process and come up with strategies to address their housing needs that are as unique as each of the communities themselves.”

Once completed, MHP staff will assist regional partners in development of a housing action plan (HAP), with specific strategies to address housing development needs in each community. MHP will provide remote and in-person technical assistance for this planning by creating engagement tools and supporting outreach strategies such as community surveys, stakeholder interviews, and public town halls hosted during the summer of 2023.