Unsurprisingly, affordable housing issues top the 39 human-service needs listed in a survey that’s part of the recently-released Bainbridge Island Health, Housing and Human Services Needs Assessment. The basis of determining which needs made the list centered on the gap between how large an issue the need is for those surveyed and how well they think the need is being met. In other words, the gap between the service needs and the ability of providers to meet them.

The 2007-08 report is expansive and conducted by 24 human service providers and 41 community contacts serving the island. The surveys revealed some of the major trends causing difficulties in the community, including an aging population, rising costs across the line, a growing income gap and persistent needs being exacerbated by all the above.

Options for affordable housing purchases and affordable rentals lead the list simply because the requirements to own or rent a home greatly exceed the actual assets of most families and individuals. About 71 percent of those surveyed said affordable housing purchase needs weren’t being met, while 78 percent said rental needs were unmet. Another two of the top five “unmet needs” involved affordable rental housing for seniors, whether for independent or assisted living units.

So what are we going to do about it, if anything? There have been attempts to address the problem in recent years, but the focus now seems to be less aimed at low-income families and hourly workers than middle-class service workers (teachers, police, bureaucrats) who want to live on the island but can’t afford it. But even those efforts have been marginally successful. The Housing Resource Board continues to seek solutions, but it is dependent somewhat on donations and city funding. Unfortunately, the slumping economy and inflation are causing such resources to dry up, too.

What’s the answer? Don’t know, but here’s another question: Are the residents of Bainbridge Island serious enough to help subsidize affordable housing? There’s no doubt a large number of residents believe having a diverse population is healthy for the community.

It’s also a fact that the island is a wealthy suburb for many of the typical reasons, one of which is that people leave cities and their low-income neighborhoods because stereotypically they are thought to be crime infested. Yes, life is a good here. Expensive, too, which means it’s not for everyone.

It’s also a fact that on an island without an industrial or corporate-retail base, the real estate and housing industries fuel the economy because the island attracts people with money. And, as the HHHS survey indicated, the gap between the haves and the have-nots is increasing. In other words, the housing problem is getting worse, especially if you are young and not established or old and living on a fixed income.

Here’s one of the comments listed in the online survey part of the HHHS report:

“I think it (affordable housing) is important for a relatively small part of the population. This group has almost no power, politically or financially, when their few affordable choices for housing are threatened with replacement by more lucrative developments. This also plays out in their ability to get ordinary repairs for their affordable apartments. (There is) almost no motivation, often, by the housing authorities, to make needed repairs, because the people in question have little power to make things tough if nothing is done.”

Of course, “relatively small” is all relative. Certainly the group needing affordable housing is getting bigger every day.