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ILWHY HOUSING MATTERS <br />Housing is easy to take for granted. <br />Yet the physical asset of housing <br />becomes home for families and indi- <br />viduals, opportunity for those work- <br />ing hard to get ahead, community for <br />cities, and resources for the econ- <br />omy. <br />A mix of housing types and values is <br />necessary to ensure that those who <br />contribute to the community can <br />live in the community if they desire. <br />The same mix enables newcomers <br />and young families to join the com- <br />munity, renewing it with fresh tal- <br />ents and ideas. A mix of housing <br />respects the desires of older citi- <br />zens to remain in the community <br />that is the seat of their life's work <br />and dreams. And housing is in- <br />creasingly a factor in businesses' <br />ability to recruit and retain work- <br />ers. <br />Economic and <br />pressures are <br />strains that 1 <br />Edina's ability <br />a mix of hou, <br />portunities. <br />prices in Edina <br />calating well <br />the reach o <br />who work at <br />currently live I <br />Throughout tl <br />ropolitan area, work- <br />ers and young families <br />are "driving to afforda- <br />bility," housing made accessible by <br />relatively inexpensive rural land and <br />good freeways, but which leaves <br />traffic congestion, air pollution, and <br />water quality problems in its wake. <br />These factors contribute to the in- <br />creasing land values in Edina. <br />If housing prices explode beyond <br />the means of all but the wealthy, <br />Edina will not attract young families, <br />it may struggle to attract the work- <br />ers it needs, and seniors on fixed <br />incomes may be forced to relocate. <br />These scenarios are not far- <br />fetched=indeed there are signs <br />that they are beginning to happen, <br />just as these problems have <br />emerged in other communities <br />around the country. <br />Morningside Constable Weber, <br />Sunnyside Road & France Avenue, 1956 <br />