In March’s article we announced that there are hundreds of new jobs coming into Navajo County, now and throughout 2025 and 2026. These new job opportunities are often most readily filled by our locals, those that are already living in our communities. Our locals already know the communities in which they live and generally have more stable housing for themselves and their families, than those new to our region. It gives them the hometown advantage with job seeking and moving up the housing ladder.
Housing is competitive, everyone is out there looking for the best housing that fits their lifestyle and budget. Across all of our communities we hear a need for more housing, more single-family homes, more multi-family homes, more rentals and more RV short-term lots.
The demand for more quality housing, new housing and more attainable housing continues to outpace the supply of housing in all housing types. Elected leaders and business leaders are hearing these demands for more housing, for newer housing and they are rising to the call. At the same time that leaders are seeing new planned area developments, re-zone applications for increased housing density and new housing developer requests, they are getting petitioned by those that do not want more housing in their neighborhoods. These residents like the way things are and they don’t want to see more homes coming in, they don’t want more traffic and more neighbors. When it comes down to it, no one is happy about someone else’s home being built, everyone is only excited to see their own house being built.
The practical fact of the matter is that new housing development is a function of growth. The more desirable your community and more job opportunities in our region compound to create a demand for more housing. If you are seeing more housing being built and you already live in that community, congratulations, you are living in a community that is growing. Most community residents want to see more positive things in their communities, no one really wants to see their community stagnate and decline.
Let’s tie this back to economic growth. It’s abundantly clear that our people want more jobs, better jobs.
Our people want more opportunities to improve their personal situation, and communities want more tax revenues; sales tax, and property taxes to pay for our schools, our emergency services, our public roadways, public amenities and services. More job opportunities are now here, and locals have the ‘hometown’ advantage for these jobs. More jobs demand more housing options, once again locals have the ‘hometown’ advantage for moving up into available housing stock, should they choose. Our communities will never be perfect, because there is no perfect community. There are only growing or declining communities. Fortunately, we are feeling growth pains, and may they continue.
REAL AZ is pleased to support the new economic growth we are experiencing in 2025. We encourage you to reach out should you be interested in knowing more or getting involved.
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Chris Pasterz is the executive director of RealAZ, northeastern Arizona’s economic development engine.
