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of Arden Hills - Comprehensive Plan - DRAFT <br />7.4 Housing Issues <br />Three primary housing issues will need to be addressed by Arden Hills in the next <br />20 years. They include housing diversity, housing affordability, and housing <br />quality. Each is discussed below. <br />7.4.1 Housing Diversity <br />ure-cycle nousing wnlcn was rererencea In <br />the housing goals is a common term used to <br />describe the provision of housing types for <br />all stages of life. Life -cycle housing is based <br />on the premise that as people go through <br />life, their housing needs change. A young T—W—' <br />The Lije Cyrle <br />person getting out of school and just starting lk.fi'g Chnin <br />out usually cannot afford to own a home so <br />TheS,emer"ame <br />they often begin by renting. As a person <br />grows older, they often establish a family <br />and buy their first home, sometimes either a a A,R,,..,,,,,,, <br />starter home or townhome. As a family's <br />income grows, they may move up to a larger <br />home. Once the children leave and the family size decreases, parents often move <br />back to a smaller home with fewer maintenance needs or to one of the growing <br />number of either single-family or multi -family housing options that has an <br />association that take care of home and property maintenance. Eventually, as a <br />person ages, there is often a need for assisted living or an extended care facility. <br />Housing in Arden Hills today is primarily focused on one stage of the housing life- <br />cycle, move -up housing. Ironically, a significant number of units constructed in <br />Arden Hills during the 1970s were oriented to a first-time homebuyer market. As <br />housing prices have risen over the past three to four decades, what was once <br />priced for a first-time buyer is now classified as move -up housing do to escalated <br />prices. Arden Hills does still have a limited supply of more entry level housing. In <br />2007, there were 285 units in the Arden Manor manufactured home community and <br />approximately 80 percent of the units were owner occupied. <br />Rental housing is another component of life -cycle housing that needs to be <br />addressed over time. Rental housing is an important component of the overall <br />housing supply since it provides options for both the beginning and later stages of <br />the life -cycle chain. It may also serve the needs of several segments of the <br />population including retail service employees, seniors, young adults just entering <br />the workplace and economically disadvantaged households. At the present time, <br />DRAFT 31 <br />2/22/2008 <br />