NSS Weekly: Home Ownership: ‘American Dream’ or Illusion?

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INTRO: You are listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a weekly newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota, produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's community radio stations.

VICTOR PALOMINO: I'm Victor Palomino.

BRITT AAMODT: And I'm Britt Aamodt. This week, we explore the incredible challenges first-time homebuyers are facing in our state.

VICTOR PALOMINO: And we explore some unique alternatives available for those trying to buy their first home.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: But first, here are some of the stories that made headlines this week.

XAN HOLSTON: The entire Boundary Waters Wilderness area is closed for public safety, and the U.S. Forest Service says some of the fires could burn until winter.

ACTING U.S. FOREST SERVICE DIRECTOR DREW STROBERG: The only thing that's going to put those out fully is snow.

XAN HOLSTON: Acting U.S. Forest Service Director Drew Stroberg says the closures will remain until the fires are contained. Evacuation zones are changing quickly. Those living in Lake and Cook counties are encouraged to monitor their counties' websites and social media pages for the latest evacuation orders. Stroberg says some of the fires are very difficult to reach.

ACTING U.S. FOREST SERVICE DIRECTOR DREW STROBERG: When the Thumb Fire started, that was a good three or four portages into to get to that, and then it was plenty ways off the nearest lake.

XAN HOLSTON: There are new concerns that Canadian fires along the border may spread to Minnesota. AMPERS member station KAXE's Megan Buffington contributed to this report.

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XAN HOLSTON: After nearly three years of debate, Rochester is dropping plans for a new sports dome. Voters approved $65 million for an indoor-outdoor sports complex in 2023, but when cost estimates nearly doubled, the city moved ahead with only the outdoor fields. Now, Mayor Kim Norton says a separate $55 million dome no longer fits the city's budget or community needs.

MAYOR KIM NORTON: I feel like there's a real mismatch between what the recommendation in front of us is, and I know it's just a concept, an idea, and what this community initially wanted and expected.

XAN HOLSTON: City staff will now study whether existing facilities can fill some of Rochester's indoor sports needs.

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XAN HOLSTON: A Minneapolis organization founded to fight HIV in Native communities is moving into a new home for health, culture, and the arts. The Indigenous Peoples Task Force's $12 million center is in the Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis. It includes a clinic, housing support, food, art, and youth theater. The theater is already open. The remaining services are expected to move in this month. Its Ojibwe name, Mikwanedun Audisookon, means "Remember our teachings."

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XAN HOLSTON: A solar project big enough to provide a year's worth of electricity for about 40,000 homes has cleared a key state hurdle. The Public Utilities Commission approved permits for the Lake Charlotte project in southern Minnesota. Commission Chair Katie Sieben says the project could extend benefits beyond the power it produces.

KATIE SIEBEN: I look forward to the project being constructed in a way that will help Minnesotans realize the benefits of having more clean energy on our grid overall.

XAN HOLSTON: The developer says the project would also bring construction and permanent jobs, plus new tax revenue for Martin County and the school district. Construction could begin next year with the project online in 2028.

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XAN HOLSTON: Across many parts of the state, multiple beaches are closed because of high bacteria levels. Department of Health officials say heavy rain, groundwater runoff, wildlife and pet waste, and even people swimming while they're sick, all push bacteria to high enough levels to close a beach. Now, Minnesota is implementing a new website to check for beach closures before you get to the water. Epidemiologist Trisha Robinson says the new website gathers all local water quality alerts to make it easier for the state to track beach water problems over time.

TRISHA ROBINSON: A one-stop shop for Minnesotans to be able to see whether or not a beach is open and any other alerts that might be in place for that beach.

XAN HOLSTON: Beach monitoring is largely handled locally, and many are not monitored at all. So Robinson says to avoid water after heavy rain, stay out if you've been sick, and don't swallow lake water. The portal officially launches later this month, but you can check it out now at mnbeaches.org.

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XAN HOLSTON: The Justice Department says three major egg producers secretly coordinated bids to move a wholesale pricing benchmark to increase the price retailers and consumers paid. A civil antitrust complaint says three of the country's largest egg producers coordinated pricing manipulation from June 2022 through March 2025. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the proposed settlement earlier this month after working with the Justice Department and 16 other states to sue the three egg producers. U of M law professor Tom Cotter says the complaint quotes one CEO's email to the other companies urging strong bids early and often.

PROFESSOR TOM COTTER: There were emails going back and forth among these three companies that seemed to pretty clearly establish that this is what. They were doing. They were coordinating their bidding activity, and that is one of the most clear types of ways you can violate the antitrust law.

XAN HOLSTON: Proposed settlements are now awaiting court approval. The companies would have to pay 3.3 million dollars to participating states and donate 53 million eggs. About 2 million of those would go to Minnesota food shelves.

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XAN HOLSTON: Minnesota officials now have key evidence from the Department of Justice for three shootings during Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration crackdown earlier this year. After months of refusing to share evidence, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says federal officials turned over body camera video statements and physical evidence from the shooting deaths of Renee Goode and Alex Pretti, and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis. Moriarty says she has not decided whether to file charges but now has the evidence she needs to help decide.

HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY MARY MORIARTY: We need transparency. We need cooperation. Our community needs it.

XAN HOLSTON: Moriarty says her office won't rush any potential prosecution. For North Star Stories, I'm Xan Holston.

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BRITT AAMODT: According to the Minnesota Housing Partnership, the median age of a first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old. This highlights the growing barriers many young people in the state face in entering the housing market.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Reporter Jose Ozoria takes us inside the journey to homeownership for a young couple and asks experts about the challenges they're facing along the way.

JOSE OZORIA: For generations, buying a first home has been one of the defining milestones, a cornerstone of what some call the American Dream. But for many young Minnesotans, that dream feels farther away than ever. Skyrocketing home prices, rising interest rates, and limited inventory have forced many young first-time homebuyers to rethink what the American dream is, as well as what home ownership even looks like.

LUKE GENTLE: It feels kind of mind-boggling. That's how this is the process for making like one of the biggest purchases of your life.

JOSE OZORIA: Luke Gentle and Kelsey Christiansen are among the fortunate few. They were able to buy their first home in Minneapolis, but even they describe the experience as a roller coaster of emotions.

KELSEY CHRISTIANSEN: With cost of living increasing and inflation, and modern wages not necessarily keeping up with that, it's very nerve-wracking. You always feel very anxious, no matter what big purchase decision you're making.

JOSE OZORIA: Like many young home buyers, Luke and Kelsey considered alternatives, townhouses, and condominiums, but those options came with costs of their own, like homeowner's association fees.

LUKE GENTLE: The HOA fee of a lot of those places, you know, like the monthly costs can be, you know, the low low end is like $500.

JOSE OZORIA: Those added monthly costs can make a less expensive home just as difficult to afford, leaving many young Minnesotans wondering whether the traditional path to home ownership is still within reach.

KELSEY CHRISTIANSEN: I grew up in the northern Illinois suburbs. So moving to Twin Cities was a really great opportunity for both of our careers and just wanting to start living our lives a little bit, which included first renting. So part of the interest was just looking around and seeing what was available.

JOSE OZORIA: The decision to buy a first home isn't sparked by a dramatic moment. It's often a collection of small frustrations that slowly add up: rising rent, limited control over where they live, and the realization that someone else is always making the decisions.

LUKE GENTLE: I guess it's a bit silly, but our condo that we were renting had this big wide patio that we liked using, and we had a grill on it. And in St. Paul, they have rules that a grill has to be like 10 feet away from the building for fire safety reasons, which makes sense. But our patio was large enough to have the grill on there safely. But like the rules changed, so we couldn't have it, and like that's not like the primary reason, but like it was just like there was some concern about the rules could change at any moment.

JOSE OZORIA: That loss of control was only part of the picture.

LUKE GENTLE: And between that and like rent increasing every year, we had some maintenance issues with that condo. The like second floor flooded once or twice, and the washing machine kept breaking. So there's a point where, like, well, I bet we could handle this ourselves, and it would be nice to have some control.

JOSE OZORIA: It wasn't just about owning property; it was about having stability, making their own decisions, and putting their monthly payments towards something they could truly call their own. Kelsey says that their financial situation as a couple had to be solid.

KELSEY CHRISTIANSEN: Having two individuals with well-paying jobs with minimal college debt, I think, really did help set us up for success and help kind of steer our, you know, understanding of what we could afford and what we couldn't afford.

JOSE OZORIA: Luke and Kelsey were eventually able to buy a home. But for many young Minnesotans, reaching that milestone is becoming increasingly difficult. Real estate advisor Mackenzie Rasmus says today's first-time buyers are entering a housing market that bears little resemblance to the one their parents faced.

MACKENZIE RASMUS: Oh well, there's significant fundamental changes. See, with my parents, my parents' generation could work a summer job and make a dent in the down payment. But that's not really a possibility anymore. The gap between where wages are and where home prices are have widened significantly in a way that it's not just incremental; it is completely structural and a completely different conversation than where we were several decades ago.

JOSE OZORIA: Mr. Rasmus says the financial pressure doesn't stop there.

MACKENZIE RASMUS: Then you add on student debt on top of that, and then you have a generation that is starting the race, you know, 50 yards behind the starting line. Their parents, they bought a home with basically a high school diploma and a handshake. And these buyers now that they have master's degrees and they still can't get to the 5% down.

JOSE OZORIA: For many young Minnesotans, the challenge isn't the lack of ambition or preparation. It's entering a market where the rules have fundamentally changed. The homes may still be there, but getting the keys has become far more difficult. Anne Mavity, executive director of the Minnesota Housing Partnership—

ANNE MAVITY: Supply and demand is a core challenge and problem that we're facing.

JOSE OZORIA: She points to zoning reform and increasing housing density, including townhomes and smaller developments, as part of the long-term solution.

ANNE MAVITY: It is harder right now to have that single-family home that folks have envisioned for years. I also think that ownership and home can mean many different things.

JOSE OZORIA: For Luke and his partner Kelsey, as recent home buyers, they're concerned about the trends and the process.

LUKE GENTLE: You look at housing prices 10 years ago versus now, it's kind of insane. If that keeps going, how are people going to be able to afford houses?

JOSE OZORIA: For Luke and Kelsey, the process has been a learning experience.

KELSEY CHRISTIANSEN: Buying our first house taught me patience, patience and understanding, and a greater appreciation for what my parents taught me and the opportunities we have.

JOSE OZORIA: As for their thoughts on the status of the American Dream, Kelsey has a clear outlook.

KELSEY CHRISTIANSEN: A bit demoralized overall. I would say what was achievable and looking at, you know, what was previously the standard and how it's changed today.

JOSE OZORIA: For North Star Stories, I'm Jose Ozoria.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: After the break, we explore a unique housing model creating a path for homeownership and community building.

BRITT AAMODT: This is North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, produced by AMPERS with support from the State of Minnesota. We'll be right back.

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[NSS Promo: "North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, Diverse Radio for Minnesota's Communities. Check out our other programs at AMPERS dot ORG: Minnesota Native News brings you weekly coverage of the state's Native American communities. MN90 - Minnesota History in 90 Seconds - transports you to historical moments in our state through short, engaging stories. Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine is a weekly podcast featuring conversations between Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo, and Native community members. Hear more at AMPERS dot ORG."]

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BRITT AAMODT: You are listening to North Star Stories. I'm Britt Aamodt.

VICTOR PALOMINO: And I'm Victor Palomino.

BRITT AAMODT: Owning a home has long been seen as a reference for success in our society. But today's housing market is prompting some to find alternatives to traditional homeownership.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Nörd Commons is a new co-housing project underway in the Twin Cities. A multigenerational community that combines private homes with shared spaces. The group is also hosting educational sessions and social gatherings for people interested in learning more about the cohousing model.

BRITT AAMODT: We're joined now by Christina Marshall, founder of CohoCollab. Her organization provides consulting for groups forming cohousing and other intentional communities, and she's also a professional partner with the Nörd Commons project. Christina, thank you for joining us.

CHRISTINA MARSHALL: Thank you so much for having me.

BRITT AAMODT: Well, how did the idea for Nörd Commons come about?

CHRISTINA MARSHALL: I spent my career in the senior living industry, and about 10 years ago, I just thought there's got to be a different way to do this, and so I started a journey into the world of cohousing, which is a national movement of how we house and live together in community. And part of that journey was to build a business around helping cohousing groups across the country form and get going. But the other part of that was a personal mission, really, to build cohousing and build community right here where I live in the Twin Cities.

BRITT AAMODT: How does that process usually begin of bringing a group together that can push this idea forward of creating a co-housing community?

CHRISTINA MARSHALL: Yeah, so we are actually kind of approaching this a little differently than how it traditionally has been developed. Traditionally, a couple people, associates or friends, maybe come together and say, "Gee, wouldn't it be great to live together in community?" And so often that's how a cohousing group really truly forms. Then they embark really on a complex real estate development project. So Nörd Commons is a little bit different. I have other professionals that are involved in the project, including a development consultant, a co-housing expert, and an architect already lined up, so we're really driving this project forward. And instead of kind of the traditional way that co-housing groups form, we are actively forming a group. We started our first info session to the public was on March 1, and we've been really busy ever since. And so we have about 20 households that are looking to do this with us, and we continue to recruit and grow. Ultimately, it is at the end of the day a real estate development project with a whole amount of community building built in.

BRITT AAMODT: I'm guessing a lot of Minnesotans are not familiar with cohousing. So when you talk to them, what are some of the misconceptions they have?

CHRISTINA MARSHALL: So a lot of people who aren't totally exposed to this, the first thing they jump to is "That's like a commune." And in a lot of ways, cohousing is an intentional community, and a commune is also an intentional community, but they operate very differently, and specifically, cohousing really focuses on a balance of privacy and shared community spaces. So, in cohousing, you do have your own private home. Typically, cohousing communities follow a condo association model. So, you have a homeowners association made up of the members that takes care of the community and all of the shared spaces. The other thing is that again, the intention is to live in community, and a big part of that is participation. So neighbors come together to have shared meals several times a week or a couple times a month. They get together to provide maintenance to the community, so like a workday party and all kinds of other things that help support, you know, the general health of the community.

BRITT AAMODT: Well, here's another important question. I think housing prices are astronomical now for a lot of people who want to have their own home. So, is co-housing more affordable than other housing options?

CHRISTINA MARSHALL: Yeah, that's kind of a misconception that people have is that when you come together to build a community, that it will be more affordable. But it truly is a misconception. Traditional cohousing is market rate new construction cohousing, and so we expect prices of cohousing communities to be that of market-rate housing, but also a little bit higher because, of course, you're building common space. So you typically have a common house. You have other maintained spaces for the community that costs money. Oftentimes, the misconception is cohousing is actually more costly too at the entry point to get into. But your long-term expenses when you live in cohousing are actually much reduced because you're sharing a lot of things, so you don't have the same living expenses as you would in your own single-family home. But cohousing is not, has not cracked the nut on how to make it more affordable for everyone. The Cohousing Alliance of the United States, you know, has had affordability on the top of its agenda for many, many years. A lot of cohousing communities have gotten creative and have created affordability within their own communities, but systemically, housing is a is a much bigger problem and question, which is very complex, but part of the challenge with cohousing and the reason that it develops slowly is because the members are driving the development, so they actually themselves become real estate developers as part of an LLC. So, as a solution, you know, developers with heart would be a great addition to this industry.

BRITT AAMODT: Is Minneapolis a good area to have co-housing communities?

CHRISTINA MARSHALL: In my opinion, I think it is wild to know that we actually only have about two communities here in the Twin Cities. I think we are perfectly positioned. Our values really align with the values of cohousing, and I would argue that, as born and raised here in the Midwest, the idea of knowing your neighbor is not foreign to us. That drawback to community is what I hear from people all over the country, but specifically for Nörd Commons, they're looking for something. That's missing in their lives, and they see a way to create it for themselves. So, if you're just curious, it's a pretty easy step to take to just explore it a little bit. We're really committed to this project and can't wait to see where it takes us.

BRITT AAMODT: Well, thank you so much for spending time with us today on Northstar Stories, Christina.

CHRISTINA MARSHALL: Absolutely, thank you so much for the opportunity, it was really a pleasure.

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BRITT AAMODT: Cohousing projects in Greater Minnesota are emerging as an alternative for people seeking a different kind of housing, especially older adults who want a balance of independence and community. But in many parts of the state, one of the biggest challenges is simply a lack of awareness about the model.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Lee Pedersen retired as a physical sciences librarian at Brown University and moved to Duluth in 2014. She now teaches cohousing through community education programs in Duluth and Cloquet and founded Active Adult Cohousing for the Northland. She currently serves as president of the nonprofit Cohousing Minnesota and is also part of the Affordable Housing Action Team for the state's Multisector Blueprint for Aging. Thank you for joining us.

LEE PEDERSEN: You're welcome.

VICTOR PALOMINO: You moved to Duluth in 2014, and now you are trying to create a cohousing situation, where are you living now?

LEE PEDERSEN: I've been trying, working on this since 2019, when I fell in love with the concept, and then COVID hit, and so I'm only now reactivating, trying to find people who will want to do what is called, do a senior cohousing community up here in Duluth. So now I live in an apartment building.

VICTOR PALOMINO: How is the process to start finding people to create a co-housing situation?

LEE PEDERSEN: Can be a variety of ways. There have been communities started by church members. There are communities that are started by friends. There are communities that are started by one person who goes out and markets like crazy and finds some other people to help them. So it can be a whole variety of things. But the thing is, is when the group starts to form, they establish their values, and so they know that everybody is on the same track as far as values are concerned, and early on you have to decide what we call how to decide.

VICTOR PALOMINO: What are you looking for to live in a cohousing situation?

LEE PEDERSEN: Well, it's attractive for me because I live in an apartment building that's controlled by owners and building managers, and I don't have any say in things that happen. I mean, when I owned my own home, I had a lot of say in what happened. But then owning your own home has all the extra pieces of property management and that kind of thing. So the beauty to me of cohousing is that you get together with a bunch of people, you manage the property, you govern the property, you make decisions about it, and you don't have a third party over you. The other thing is, is that in cohousing, particularly peer senior only, there is a principle called co-care, and that is that everybody watches people, watch out for each other, to the best of their ability, and they take care of each other. And there's some evidence that with seniors, people last, stay longer in that kind of a living situation than they do if they went to an institution.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Did you live in a community living like this before?

LEE PEDERSEN: No, that's the funny thing. I haven't. The only time I lived in any kind of community was a dorm in college, or some shared apartment with people in graduate school. I started my research looking into alternatives to what my parents were going through as far as my caregiving of them, and they were going through the institutional things of independent assisted nursing, and I hated the idea, and so I started researching, and I read books, and I fell in love with the concept.

VICTOR PALOMINO: How did you see the future of co-housing, and where you are in Duluth, and in the state in general?

LEE PEDERSEN: We are excited by the fact that in the Twin Cities, we've had one community that's up and running, and another community that is in the process of looking for property, and so those are the first new ones since early 1990s, when Monterey Cohousing in St. Louis Park was built. And my own project has kind of just, only personally as an only person, I cannot afford to buy land. I cannot afford to buy a building on my own. So I'm looking for people who want to do the work. So it's a new concept, and it probably is, it's going to be a good concept, but up here, it's a challenge for me.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Can you expand on that? What are some of these challenges?

LEE PEDERSEN: First of all, it's not mainstream housing model, and it's misunderstood by policymakers and the person on the street. Everybody sees it as a niche kind of thing, and you need a motivated group to get together. You need to set up a financial and legal structure. The cost of property and construction of stick and mortar is now market-rate for most areas, and consequently, you need some creativity to bring the costs down. And subsidies are kind of challenging to get for cohousing. Another thing that co-housers, or at least here in Minnesota, we've run into, is that acquiring property on land it competes with bids from developers, and they win because they have the money. The other thing is, is there are municipal restrictions of zoning and code, and consequently, you have to kind of work hard to fix that. The whole "not in my backyard" attitude is that people don't want increased housing density in their area. And finally, the last thing I've had when I teach my community ed classes is they say, "How can you get along?" And I say to them, you know, "Conflict is human." All right. But if from the very beginning the founding group establishes processes and gets in professionals to help them with resolving conflict, then the community is going to thrive. There's a lot of opportunity out in Greater Minnesota. There's a lot of rural property. There are even towns that could be turned into cohousing villages.

VICTOR PALOMINO: If our listeners want to know or get more information about the project and cohousing in general, where can they go?

LEE PEDERSEN: They can go to our website, cohousingmn.org.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Well, Lee, thank you so much.

LEE PEDERSEN: Thank you, Victor.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: And finally, the great Minnesota get-together is back with additions to its favorite recipe of 'put it on a stick and deep fry,' while asking just how far you'll go for a pickle.

BRITT AAMODT: New this year: pickle pie, a dill-pickle cookie called, naturally, "dill with it, cookie!" You can also try Dubai whoopie pie, a Hmong corndog and an apple-donut ham grinder.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Bring whatever-you-have-on-a-stick and stop by our AMPERS radio booth in the education building. AMPERS produces North Star Stories and represents and supports 17 independent non-commercial community radio stations throughout Minnesota.

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BRITT AAMODT: This is it for today's program. If you missed any part of today's newscast, you can find this and past episodes at AMPERS.org or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

VICTOR PALOMINO: You can also get North Star Stories Daily on our website or check your favorite station's schedule.

BRITT AAMODT: Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with more stories and voices from the North Star State.

OUTRO: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's community radio stations with support from the state of Minnesota. Online at ampers.org.