This story appears in the July 2026 issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
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Tony Kohler, the community development director for Heber City, has three adult children who have all grown up and moved out on their own. Then, last year, they all came back.
“[They] couldn’t quite make it,” Kohler says. “All three of them said, ‘I love Heber. I don’t want to move, but help me understand what options I have.’ It’s frustrating being in my position, you know? Kids, be patient. We’re working on it.”
As the community development director, Kohler works closely with many of Heber City’s commissions and councils to find, plan and implement solutions for various community problems. One of the largest topics of discussion is affordable housing.
To put it plainly, “We do not have affordable housing,” Kohler says. “We’re in a crisis mode.”
Outpriced everywhere
Heber Valley is not alone. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox listed housing as a focus for the 2026 legislative session in his 2026 State of the State speech. The crisis isn’t new; research from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute shows that not since 2017 has the price of a starter home dropped below $200,000.
According to Dallin Koecher, the executive director of Heber Valley Tourism & Economic Development for Wasatch County, the current median sales price of a home in Heber Valley is $1.2 million, while the median household income is roughly $130,000 — and that’s based on homes with two incomes.
When Koecher does the math, taking household income and multiplying it by three to see how much house the median buyer can afford, it’s barely $400,000.
“There’s no home that price here in Wasatch County,” he says.
Renting is no different. Kohler’s oldest son, now 26, has spent years moving between Heber, Kamas, Midway, Provo, Springville and Salt Lake City, searching for affordable, stable housing where he can keep his dog. Kohler says his son’s rent is often more expensive than his own mortgage.
His daughter, attending nursing school, cycled through housing instability as rising rents, unstable expenses and roommate challenges took their toll.
“When you’re 20-something, you don’t have $1,000 in reserve,” he says. “If somebody leans on you for $150 or $800 — game over.”
Kohler’s youngest son recently earned a certificate from Snow College and is excited to start a career in the local ski industry. However, Kohler fears the pay, even with some seasonal housing options, won’t be enough for him to truly survive in the area.
The cost of losing a generation
With affordable options few and far between, Kohler is seeing many of Heber Valley’s youth, including his own children, consider leaving the state.
“My oldest son, part of his plan, is moving. He doesn’t want to move, but he’s saying, ‘I can go down to Texas and, for half the price, I can afford something, and it might even be on five acres. I have to move out of state,’” Kohler says. “I’m both proud of him, … but I’m also sad that that’s what we as a state have decided that we’re going to do.”
With the young people of Heber Valley struggling to stay afloat and now beginning to move away to more affordable areas, Koecher’s concerns have centered on the local economy.
“One of the biggest risks or hurdles for economic stability and growth is not land prices, which are expensive, … [it’s] who is going to start a business?” Koecher says. “Where are you going to find people to work in those spaces?”
As he is approached by current or new residents interested in starting or building companies in the area, Koecher says he is thrilled, but concerned that soon the housing market will become an insurmountable stumbling block. “We need jobs. We need all those kinds of things. But have you looked at the housing market? … I don’t want people to show up here, build their facility and then say, ‘Oh wait, I can’t pay my employees enough to live here.’”
While commuting is an option for some, Kohler says essential workers like teachers, police officers and plow truck drivers need to be local and available.
Multi-prong solutions
To Koecher, the housing crisis in Heber Valley is a “multi-pronged problem.” The best way to solve it: “a multi-prong solution.” He suggests everything from employer partnerships with developers, down payment assistance and alternative ownership models as options for relieving the pressure. One possible solution might also be self-help housing, where families can help build their own homes, reducing construction costs and using “sweat equity” as a down payment.
Meanwhile, Kohler and Heber City are experimenting with new zoning approaches that would allow for more density without changing the character of neighborhoods. He hopes the changes will encourage more mixed-use housing, accessory dwelling units and even “mansion-style” homes — large homes that look like one house but actually contain several apartment units.
The city of Heber has considered buying its own land to provide cheaper housing and is currently in the process of negotiating a contract with the Forest Service for a 99-year lease that would allow the city to then re-lease the land to a developer in the private sector.
“[The developer] would develop for single-family [homes] or townhomes on that property,” Kohler says, happily announcing that their developer has reached out to the Forest Service and he fully expects progress on this prong of the solution soon.
Change for the better
Despite the need for housing reform, Kohler says the NIMBY (not in my backyard) movement has killed many proposals in Heber Valley. While the city works against its local resistance to change, however, it feels the impact of a statewide aversion to density and housing solutions.
“It’s not fair that cities like Herber City and others who have a big heart are thwarted by other cities who are not going to do it,” Kohler says. “We’re a community of 20,000. … It’s a lot more challenging for us to make a dent in the statewide problem than it is for communities like Salt Lake or Provo or Orem. … We’re hopeful that the legislature keeps putting pressure on the Wasatch front to take the bulk of this because rural Utah cannot.”
Heber Valley will continue its all-of-the-above approach, celebrating each win as it comes. Most recently, Koecher says the Wasatch County government performed a wage study and made applicable adjustments to help support all county employees.
“I’m optimistic because people are still moving here. People are still finding jobs here. It’s still happening,” Koecher says. “I’m just afraid that if we don’t continue to invest in our community, we could become a bedroom community.”