Skagit Housing Consortium briefed on data hub that aims to make housing data accessible

The Skagit Housing Consortium met online Tuesday with Peter Moon, the executive director of Lunous, a nonprofit focused on making Pacific Northwest housing and homelessness data more accessible.

Moon presented the Skagit Housing Consortium with Lunous' updated Skagit County Affordable Housing Insights Hub, which uses recent housing data to identify factors contributing to homelessness in the county.

During Tuesday's meeting, he asked that consortium members provide feedback to Lunous about how the insights hub could be improved.

Moon said he hopes the insights hub will be a helpful tool for decision-making officials, funders supporting housing projects, and for companies looking to build housing.

Consortium member and Burlington City Councilmember James Stavig said Burlington residents often ask why there is so much housing being built in the city.

These residents have told him they don't want their city to change, but Stavig said that most of the time the housing projects are out of the City Council's control.

Consortium member Ian Houben said Lunous' insights hub may be a valuable tool for officials such as Stavig to educate the public about why these housing projects are being built, and why they're sometimes required by the state.

Houben said that residents who don't want their city to change likely don't want homelessness to be an issue in their city either. Presenting these residents with Lunous' data may lead to more input from the public on housing projects.

Houben is also the director of philanthropy at Skagit Habitat for Humanity. During the meeting, he spoke about the importance of data in his work, and how data can be used for storytelling.

Houben said he cross-references data from Skagit County Trends to "create his own kind of storytelling."

He cited an example that he found by using Skagit County Trends data. He said that since 2019, the rental costs of two- and three-bedroom apartments has risen at a faster rate in Skagit County than any other county in the state.

Houben said a story like this is good information to present to funders because it identifies a need in the county.

The Skagit County Affordable Housing Insights Hub could eventually present data-driven stories to interested parties, without people needing to hunt down the data themselves.

Community Action of Skagit County Executive Director Bill Henkel said during the meeting that as the insights hub is improved and updated he hopes it can present narratives about the state of housing in the county, and where it needs to be.

"I really find it (to be) a potentially powerful collection of data for community education and conversation," Henkel said.

Although Moon gave his presentation to a group specifically concerned about housing, Lunous' insights hub is accessible to everyone. The insights hub can be accessed at lunous.org/ahi-insights-hub.

Moon said that Lunous welcomes feedback about the insights hub and how it can be improved. Feedback can be sent to hello@lunous.org.

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