Five-parish housing study seeks public input from SWLA

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - A first-of-its-kind five-parish housing study is underway in southwest Louisiana, and organizers are asking residents to participate in a survey that will help determine where housing resources are needed most.

Tim Castle, chairman of the Calcasieu Parish Public Trust Authority, said the region is at a pressure point driven in part by an influx of Cameron Parish industry workers moving into the area.

“So it has become challenging. Rental rates, unfortunately, have started to go up. Housing stocks are starting to go down. And those are being met with trying to grow. But we don’t have a housing study in advance of this to know where those needs exist currently,” Castle said.

Castle said the study will allow residents and officials to access results at a granular level — down to individual cities and towns across the five-parish region.

“So my friends in Jeff Davis Parish may say, ‘I want to see what the results are for Jennings, Louisiana’. You’ll be able to go into the study and come right down into Jennings and then open the Jennings results and see the study results for the town of Jennings,” Castle said.

The study will be conducted by RDG Planning and Design, a Midwest-based firm that has secured more than $20 million for 14 housing projects in other areas through state grant programs. Castle described the study as a long-term resource.

“We wanted a housing study that would have life to it. That would be a living, breathing, working document. And RDG will come back to our area every year to two years to update the housing study. So the housing study will be there. It will be modified. Once the industry has stopped, it will be updated again,” Castle said.

Organizers said data will be compiled from several regional entities as well as from residents. Castle said the survey is open to all residents — including temporary workers — and urged broad participation.

“I don’t want just homeowners or individuals who live in a camper here working temporary to say, oh, I don’t need to participate in their housing study. You actually do. Because the challenges you faced finding housing when you came here is part of our study,” Castle said.

The survey link and affiliated social media pages are set to go live Wednesday and will remain open for eight weeks, through early October. A housing study overview is available here.