Truckee Looks For Affordable Housing Solutions As Population Increases

The Coffeebar in downtown Truckee is a local favorite, but many people who work there aren't local. Manager Lisa Berryman and three people who work for her commute 30 miles from Reno.

“Up here in Truckee, just to rent a room, it costs anywhere between 6 to 900 dollars a month and that is just to rent a room.”

For the same price she rents a two-bedroom house in Reno.

Next door to Coffeebar, stylist Alyssa Martin is trimming hair at Urban Angels Salon. She lives closer, but in a 100-square-foot cabin in the woods. She says her choice is about quality of life.

“Affordable housing would be good as in apartments, but I also don't want to see Truckee taken over with a bunch of apartments because it is a small town and I would like to see it kept that way.”

The increasing population in Truckee is creating more pressure on an already-tight housing market. Town Manager Tony Lashbrook says building homes for people who want to live in Truckee is critical to the community’s identity.

“That’s the heart of this place. That’s who volunteers for the little league and serves on the city council and the planning commission and the school board and all the things that make a real community tick.”

So Lashbrook will join with Placer county to study the problem. They will hire consultants at a cost of $100,000 to compile statistics and interview people and employers about their budgets and their needs. Lashbrook says the town will use the study in partnership with developers to provide more affordable housing in Truckee.