Post Falls Neighborhood Showcases Model for Attainable Housing in Kootenai County
A completed Post Falls neighborhood is drawing statewide attention as a potential blueprint for addressing one of North Idaho’s most pressing economic challenges: the growing gap between local wages and home prices that is pricing out working Kootenai County residents from owning property where they grew up.
The Miracle on Britton Model
The Miracle on Britton neighborhood in Post Falls — all 28 homes and a 6,800-square-foot park — is on track to be fully complete by the end of summer, and every home has already sold. The project was developed by the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance (PAHA) using a fee-simple, shared-equity structure backed by a certified deed restriction management program.
The deed restrictions require that homes remain owner-occupied and are capped for buyers within certain income ranges. A built-in resale formula allows homeowners to build equity while ensuring the properties remain accessible to future working families — not priced to the open market.
“The homes will never be priced to market,” said Maggie Lyons, PAHA’s executive director.
For buyers like Casey Doyle and her husband Daniel, who both grew up in Post Falls, the program opened a door they never expected. “I didn’t have my heart on it,” Doyle said. “It’s kind of like buying a lottery ticket. You don’t expect to win.” The couple moved into a three-bedroom Britton home last summer. “We come from generational poverty. Our parents never owned a home. I feel like we’re getting a leg up from the community,” she said.
Who the Program Serves
The Britton neighborhood was not designed for low-income renters or those relying on government subsidies — it was built for middle-income earners who earn too much to qualify for assistance programs but too little to afford the median Kootenai County single-family home, which now sits at $552,500.
About 90% of Britton buyers are dual-income households earning between $79,000 and $120,000 per year, with an average household income of roughly $97,000. An overwhelming 95% were raised in Kootenai County, and most new homeowners are between 22 and 34 years old.
“Most of Kootenai County’s workers fall into the middle or upper middle income range, and most of them were raised here and they want to stay here,” Lyons said. “There’s a real desire in this community for people to stay where they were raised.”
Lyons believes the Britton model could be replicated statewide and nationally. “There’s no other community right now building this model home,” she said. “I think the Britton model home will become the generic term.”
Statewide Barriers to Building Attainable Housing
Ali Rabe, executive director of the Gem State Housing Alliance — a new Idaho housing policy advocacy organization — identified three primary obstacles blocking attainable housing development across the state.
First, the cost of land, labor, and construction materials has climbed sharply. Second, proposed housing developments frequently face opposition from local government bodies responding to anti-growth pressure. “We have a lot of anti-growth sentiment that’s putting pressure on our elected officials,” Rabe said. “Nobody wants housing in their back yard.” Third, outdated zoning codes — many unchanged since the 1970s — prevent construction of smaller, more affordable housing types like duplexes and triplexes.
Gem State Housing Alliance aims to work with elected officials at every level of Idaho government to modernize housing policy and expand the supply of attainable homes. Rabe warned that the consequences of inaction extend beyond housing itself. “Our businesses are telling us, all over Idaho, that there’s not enough people to do these jobs because they don’t have anywhere to live,” she said.
Traffic congestion is another downstream effect. When workers cannot afford housing near their jobs, they are forced to commute longer distances, straining roads and public infrastructure — costs that ultimately fall on taxpayers across Kootenai County and the broader Panhandle region. Housing affordability challenges have also been noted in other parts of Idaho; readers can find statewide coverage at Idaho News.
What Comes Next
With the Miracle on Britton neighborhood nearing full completion, the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance is positioning the model as a replicable solution for communities across Idaho and the nation. PAHA and Gem State Housing Alliance are both engaging local and state elected officials to push for zoning reform and policy changes that would reduce barriers to building homes that working North Idaho families can actually afford.
For Casey Doyle, the impact is already personal. Shortly after moving in, she and her husband planted climbing roses in memory of her late mother and a tree for his late father — gestures of permanence they had never before had the stability to make. “I feel like we have roots in a way that you can’t have when you’re renting,” she said.