We’ve been hearing for some time about Haines’ problems with losing population, and that one way to address this is to encourage subdivisions via tax incentives.  Well, that might help, but surely a better way would be to use that same incentive to encourage people to find ways to remodel so as to increase the number of available apartments.  People could make an apartment over the garage or turn part of their house into a rental unit after the kids move out.  This would be a nice little income stream for them, and a huge help to summer workers who have been known to camp in the woods because there wasn’t anywhere else.  And with a decent place to live, maybe some of them will stay.  

Sally McGuire