GRAND FORKS – Nearly half of the region’s rural towns saw population growth in the past decade, reversing a nearly 70-year trend of decline, a housing study by the Red River Regional Council found.

However, as the need for housing in the region accelerates, there is a need for public bodies to help close gaps, RRRC Executive Director Dawn Mandt told the Grand Forks County Commission at its meeting Tuesday night.

The study, focused on Grand Forks, Walsh, Nelson and Pembina counties, identified a need for 4,800 additional housing units in the region, not including within Grand Forks proper, by 2030. In just Grand Forks County, that number is 2,314, or an average of 483 additional homes per year.

Over the past 20 years, the county has issued an average of 24 building permits per year.

“So

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