Collier County can’t build enough affordable housing if leaders don’t allow for more density. That’s according to the Executive Director of Collier Habitat for Humanity. Dr. Sam Durso leads the busiest chapter in the country... volunteers helped build 115 homes last year.
Durso says increased density can help lower the cost of land a house sits on… especially in a region where property values are skyrocketing. Some officials fear more density will mean more congestion. Not true, according to Durso.

“Building homes for our workforce—closer to jobs in Naples—will actually decrease stress on our roads. If you’ve followed the paper recently, you’ll see that traffic has been used as an argument against affordable housing. It should not be that way. If we can build houses closer to the jobs, that will decrease stress on the roads.”

Besides density limits, Durso points to another obstacle to workforce housing… the NIMBY principle. That’s “Not In My Backyard.” He also sees another trend: apartment complexes that are becoming condominiums… therefore reducing the number of rental options. Durso spoke at a town fall forum Thursday/late last week in Naples. WGCU, 90.1 FM rebroadcasts the event Wednesday night at 7.