Affordable housing tops Las Vegas residents’ priority list, poll shows

What would Las Vegas residents do with $1 million to make their community a better place?

A Wells Fargo study found that affordable housing was at the top of residents’ priority list, beating out access to education, fixing aging infrastructure and increased resources for small businesses.

The poll, which spoke to 100 randomly selected residents, found that 75 percent felt their “ability to find affordable housing” was a five out of five, higher than any other issue and above the national average, and if given $1 million, they would spend the majority on building affordable housing for their area.

Also, 69 percent said rent and home ownership prices, along with proper supply of affordable housing choices, was a top priority, which was above the national average.

Anthony Timmons, Wells Fargo’s vice president of communications for the mountain states, said the results were clear, that “our recent community survey shows that a majority of Las Vegans are less than satisfied with affordable housing in our area.”

The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates Nevada is short approximately 83,000 affordable rental homes for “extremely” low income households, which is above the national average and near the top of all 50 states.

Clark County kicked off its “Welcome Home” initiative in 2022, the county’s first community housing fund, approving more than $100 million to support the construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental units, and since its inception, Welcome Home has pumped $170 million into trying to help solve the issue.

The other places Las Vegas residents said needed more attention in comparison to the national average was more green spaces, electric vehicle infrastructure, bicycle infrastructure, more use of renewable energy, and improvements in K-12 education. Of note, public health was not a part of the survey.

Some of the lowest scores, meaning Las Vegas residents weren’t as worried about them as issues, were providing personal finance education and resources, and community-wide Wi-Fi.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.