OUTER BANKS, N.C. — A new housing survey is open for Dare County residents, with hopes that this one will receive more responses from the workforce who lives and works in the Outer Banks.
“Any entry-level person in the service industry down here is going to struggle to find housing because they've essentially just been priced out. They can't afford to buy. They can't afford to rent,” Emily Spawr, a longtime Outer Banks resident, told News 3 in July.
“I’ve lived on the Outer Banks for 12 years, and I've moved during those 12 years, nine times,” Stuart Laird, a 12-year Outer Banks resident, said in July.
These statements are just a few of the many examples of what the full-time workforce in the Outer Banks is facing when it comes to housing, an issue News 3 has been reporting on for nearly a year.
Watch previous coverage: Organization working to support, give a voice to workforce in Outer Banks
A second housing survey put together by professors from East Carolina University and North Carolina State University is now open, hoping to receive more responses this time from people who live and work here full-time.
"One thing that we did see in that first phase was, even though it's a really excellent rate of response, we didn't get a lot of responses from those who are working in Dare County," said Whitney Knollenberg, an associate professor in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University.
"The limitation of that is, those who work in Dare County are really significantly impacted by housing availability and need to have their voices heard in any future decisions around housing in Dare County," he continued.
Watch related: Outer Banks residents share perspectives about housing crisis after survey results
The first survey had many responses from secondary homeowners here, with professors sharing with News 3 that their responses were mostly against any scale of workforce housing. The hope is that this one will reach the workforce who call the Outer Banks home all year.
"It was great to have that strong response from those who own property here, or who may live here full time, but aren't working necessarily in the county. But those who do work in the county they are really impacted by the availability of housing," said Knollenberg. "If they can't live in the community where they work, it adds a lot of undue stress and challenges to their ability to continue to make the economy run here in Dare County."
This time, the survey is hoping to directly target the workforce, and outreach efforts are already underway to do that.
Watch related: Outer Banks survey shows continued disconnect on workforce housing efforts
"This second phase is really targeting those who work in Dare County," said Knollenberg. "We've shortened the survey just a little bit, and we're really targeting both public sector employees, which we've reached out to through the towns and the counties and the school system thus far, and we're also going to be doing more targeted approach through some private sector employers in the coming weeks, to make sure that they understand that it's important for their employees to participate in this survey."
The plan is for this survey to be open until at least the end of September, allowing the workforce here to finish off the busy summer season while also having their voices heard.
The survey can be found here and though responses are wanted from the workforce here, anyone is encouraged to participate in it.
