In today’s stories, the state is opening a limited number of deer hunting permits for young adults. Then, how Greater Minnesota is responding to a housing shortage. And, the Minnesota State Patrol is getting a new headquarters.
—–Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Ngoc Bui Anchor: Grace Jacobson Reader scripting: Joel GlaserFact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Transcript
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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.
ANCHOR: In today's stories, the state is opening a limited number of deer hunting permits for young adults. Then, how is Greater Minnesota facing the state's housing shortage. And, the Minnesota State Patrol is getting a new headquarters.
I'm Gracie J.
Young adults looking for a unique deer hunting experience have until August 15th to apply for a special permit. The state is offering a limited number of special permits for 12- to 15-year-old deer hunters. The special youth deer hunts will take place in October and November at specified State Parks. The hunts are different from the statewide deer season, which takes place in mid-October and doesn't require an application. You can find more information on the Department of Natural Resources' website.
Next, Minnesota's facing a massive housing shortage. One hundred thousand homes to be exact. And for greater Minnesota, this crisis has hit especially hard. Reporter Ngoc Bui has the story.
Ngoc Bui: Lynn Allen is a home ownership coach and trainer on the Leech Lake Reservation in north central Minnesota. She said lately, she's seeing a lot of unmet potential.
Lynn Allen: There's folks that can afford housing. It's just that there's no housing.
Ngoc Bui: The housing crisis in her area has pushed some families to double or even triple up into one home. Even when some of the older houses have reached potentially unlivable conditions, they're still having to make it work.
Lynn Allen: A lot of the homes around here were built, you know, pre-1970. So they are a lot of dilapidated homes, a lot of homes that need rehab, or homes that are just condemnable.
Ngoc Bui: It's a problem, not only in her part of the state.
Sourced audio: The United States isn't building enough homes. It's not lost on anybody who pays attention to this, how far behind we are. America's housing crisis is showing no signs of easing.
Ngoc Bui: Minnesota is short of 100,000 homes, according to research by Minnesota Housing Partnership. It's a crisis that can be traced to the Great Recession during the late 2000s when production slowed and never picked back up. Andrea Brennan, with Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, said increasing the housing supply is even more difficult in rural areas where the costs of building are equal, if not greater than in the metro. But the return may not be as favorable.
Andrea Brennen: It's often the case that the costs of building housing is not supported by either the sale price or the rent.
Ngoc Bui: Smaller profit margins mean fewer private developers wanting to build new housing in Sandstone, a small town in East Central Minnesota. There hasn't been new housing for 12 years. Sandstone city administrator Kathy George said the dry spell has not only stifled the city's residents, it stifled the city's economy.
Kathy George: Every time we talk to our businesses in town, the biggest problem, they note, is a lack of housing for their employees. So it's very hard to find employees that will stick around if they have to live somewhere else.
Ngoc Bui: But George said things are finally turning around. Construction just began to convert a historic school building into 32 units of workforce housing. Rehabbing older homes is one way towns like Sandstone are trying to close the housing gap. Meanwhile, in Cass Lake, Allen said her organization, Leech Lake Financial Services, is working to build the community's capacity to create new housing. They've partnered with Leech Lake Tribal College on a construction trades internship. They're also in the process of building several new homes. Allen hopes these steps can help revive Cass Lake to the place it once was.
Lynn Allen: I want to say it was probably the 1950s when Cass Lake was once a thriving town. There was a lot of stores, there was a lot of people here. So that's what we're trying to bring back.
Ngoc Bui: This is Ngoc Bui for North Star Stories.
Anchor: You are listening to North Star Stories.
The state has purchased two buildings on Highway 36 in Roseville, a suburb of St. Paul, that will become the new headquarters for the Minnesota State Patrol. Officials say they plan to demolish the two buildings and start constructing the new headquarters next fall. The state Patrol is currently housed in several buildings throughout the metro area. The Legislature appropriated about 23-million dollars for the project during the last two legislative sessions. Officials say it will take about a year and a half to complete the new facility, which will allow two districts to operate out of one location.
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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.