Residents Encouraged to Fill Out Concordia Community Housing Survey

City of Concordia residents and stakeholders are being invited and encouraged to provide input on the community’s current housing needs.

Last fall, the Concordia City Commission authorized Five Rule Rural Planning of Kearney, Nebraska to proceed with a housing study and market analysis to address apparent issues related to housing stock in the City of Concordia.  The City of Concordia set aside $15,000 for a housing study and market analysis in its Capital Improvements Program (CIP) fund, while the CloudCorp Board of Directors has also committed $10,000 to this study recognizing that having a strong housing stock has a direct relationship to economic development.

The purpose of the study is to help the City Commission and CloudCorp identify the housing issues that are limiting the city’s ability to grow and determine what actions they can take to assist with addressing these issues.  Actions could include local policy changes, the creation of local housing development programs, or the acquisition of funding.

The Five Rule consultant team began work on the study in January 2022 by meeting with Concordia City Manager Amy Lange and former CloudCorp Executive Director Kim Reynolds to review the scope of work and collect preliminary information.  In February, local housing stakeholders and advocates were invited to a study kickoff luncheon to explain the study’s purpose and process, and to request community involvement.  Then in March of this year, the consultant team facilitated a series of small group conversations held at Concordia City Hall, geared toward identifying the most pressing housing issues in Concordia.

The entire community is now being asked to participate in the study by completing the survey.  The input received through the survey will help validate the housing concerns identified through other data inputs.  In addition to a community survey, the consultant team will complete a street-by-street assessment of all of Concordia’s existing housing stock.  Results of the survey and assessment will be presented back to local housing stakeholders and advocates in June with the full study presented to the Concordia City Commission and CloudCorp Board later this summer.

The Concordia Housing Study survey can be completed online by visiting HousingConcordia.com.  Paper copies of the survey can be picked up at Concordia City Hall, CloudCorp, the Cloud County Courthouse, the Concordia Chamber of Commerce, or the Concordia Senior Center.  This survey is anonymous and your input into this survey will assist the city through the discovery and decision-making process. 

The deadline to complete the survey is April 30, 2022.

Five Rule Rural Planning, established in January 2018 by Bobbi Pettit, is a rapidly expanding planning agency focusing on smaller rural communities in Nebraska and Kansas.  Five Rule is committed to providing education, empowerment, and advocacy to rural communities who have chosen to grow and meet the challenges of an everchanging future. Five Rule recognizes the uniqueness of each community and prides itself on creating an integrated, personal approach to solving challenges.  Services provided include comprehensive planning, development studies, zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, code maintenance, and training.  For more information visit
www.fiveruleplanning.com.