building a welcome home

HOLLAND’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE IS HOUSING. Not everyone who wants and needs to live here, can. Our traditional workforce cannot find homes they can afford. Mayor Bocks is working to change that. The Mayor and City Council are working together with city staff to develop smart, creative solutions that clear the path to create the housing Holland wants and needs.

Making Progress

During Mayor Bocks’ time in office, City Council made addressing the issue of affordable housing one of its top priorities. During my tenure, council has approved multiple new housing developments with over 1200 new housing units and over one-third of them are affordable! Council also unanimously approved a new Unified Development Ordinance encouraging forward-thinking, smart development throughout our community.

Planning for the future

Housing and how we use our homes have changed in recent years. We are spending more time in our homes. We need to find new and creative ways to use spaces for working and learning from home. Increased telecommuting will free workers to live and work where they want. Mayor Bocks knows Our Future Is Bright and people will choose Holland as their home. He is already working with City Council, city staff, developers, non profits, and employers to assure that Holland will always be a place where everyone exclaims, “And We Get To Live Here!”

homelessness

Homelessness is a problem as old as society itself and will likely never be fully resolved. It is a unique challenge for a city like Holland. The City does not provide housing or direct social services and we all must remember that being homeless is not a crime. Parks, by their nature, are designed for loitering. But that doesn’t mean we do nothing. I have been working with a team of leaders from every sector of our community on a collaborative action plan called PROJECT HOME to address homelessness in the greater Holland/Zeeland area. We have already taken the first steps to create a welcoming, thriving community of excellence where any form of homelessness is rare, safe, short, and unrepeated.