Nevada needs more than 120,000 additional affordable homes. In East Las Vegas, a city-owned golf course could become 1,500 affordable homes alongside green space, a soccer field, job training, and other community resources.

The proposed Desert Pines redevelopment brings several major policy questions together: housing affordability, responsible water use, public land, neighborhood investment, infrastructure, and who ultimately benefits from government decisions.

The project also offers a contrast with the former Badlands Golf Club, where years of resistance and litigation ultimately cost Las Vegas approximately $286 million—without producing the affordable housing Nevada urgently needs.

Desert Pines is promising, but promises are not enough. Advocates must continue asking whether the homes will remain affordable, whether current residents will benefit, whether public space will be genuinely public, and whether safeguards will prevent displacement.

Our Lutheran commitment to love and serve our neighbors invites us to see housing as more than a commodity. A stable home provides the foundation from which people work, learn, raise families, remain healthy, and participate in community life.

The question is not simply whether Nevada can build more housing.

It is whether we will use our shared resources to build communities where everyone has a place to call home.

Read the Vox article:
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/497523/golf-course-affordable-housing-las-vegas