USDA hosts housing ideas meeting in Sterling amid county shortage

USDA Rural Development will bring its housing conversation to Sterling as Logan County works through a shortage that leaves more low-income renters chasing homes than the market can easily supply. The meeting is designed to gather ideas for more homeowners, and it could shape how federal rural housing tools are aimed at Sterling and the rest of Logan County.

The public meeting will be held May 12 at 9 a.m. at Northeastern Junior College’s Applied Technology Campus in Sterling. USDA Rural Development is asking people to RSVP to Amy Mund at amy.mund@usda.gov. Residents, landlords, builders, nonprofit housing groups and local officials who show up will have a chance to speak directly about what is missing in the local housing mix, from starter homes to rental units and repair financing.

USDA Rural Development says its housing programs are meant for rural areas under 35,000 in population and are intended to help families and individuals buy, build, repair, own or rent safe and affordable homes. Through the USDA Rural Housing Service, the agency offers loans, grants and loan guarantees for single-family and multifamily housing, along with support for housing for farm laborers and essential community facilities. In a county where housing supply and affordability remain tight, those are the tools most likely to matter.

The local pressure is not new. A Logan County/Sterling Housing Needs Assessment published in February 2020 was meant to give current context on people, jobs and housing markets and to estimate housing gaps through 2025. More recent housing data still describe Logan County as having a severe shortage of available affordable housing. One frequently cited measure says there are 180 affordable units available for every 100 low-income renter households, a sign that even the basic rental inventory is stretched.

The meeting site also underscores how housing and workforce development are tied together in Sterling. Northeastern Junior College’s Applied Technology Campus is linked to a $12 million expansion project for career and technical education programs in wind, solar and industrial technology, precision agriculture, welding and fabrication, and auto and diesel. As more training and jobs circulate through the community, the housing conversation will decide whether workers can actually live nearby.

Colorado’s Division of Housing says it works with communities to create housing opportunities for people facing the greatest challenges to accessing affordable, safe and secure homes. Rural housing preservation groups in Colorado have also been holding trainings and conversations since 2020 to protect and expand USDA-backed rural rental housing. For Sterling and Logan County, the May 12 meeting is less a ceremonial stop than a chance to steer federal attention toward the county’s most immediate bottleneck: where people will live if the jobs, schools and services keep growing.