Editor’s note: Berkshire County is experiencing a crisis in affordable housing which is affecting our economy and, in fact, our whole way of life. The Berkshire Edge has a deep interest in supporting efforts to address this problem. Click here for a recording of our webinar on this subject recorded on March 12, 2025.
Today, The Edge is launching, in collaboration with the Community Development Corporation of Southern Berkshire (CDCSB), this new series of monthly articles under the rubric of Building Community, as we firmly believe that making housing available for people at all income levels does indeed create a stronger community.
Singer-songwriter and lawyer Doug Mishkin of Egremont has emerged as one of South County’s foremost champions for the construction of workforce and affordable housing for year-round residents.
“We have a serious housing crisis,” he says. “If we don’t figure out how to change course pretty dramatically, we’re going to dig ourselves into a deeper hole. The housing crisis is a health care crisis. It is a jobs crisis. It is a crisis for our economy and for who we are as a community.”
As vice chair of the Egremont Affordable Housing Trust, Mishkin is helping to pilot a project that has drawn attention and support from state leadership.
“Doug is the only person I know I can’t keep up with,” says Richard Stanley, chair of the Egremont Affordable Housing Trust. “We are often talking before seven in the morning to figure out a strategy to overcome the next hurdle. He is always very positive and an absolutely fabulous partner.”
The project involves the construction of two duplexes on six acres of town-owned land near Egremont Town Hall. It brings together $330,000 in private donations, $100,000 in Town support through a Rural Development Fund grant, a Town match of $33,000, and a close partnership with the Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire, which is serving as the developer.
Under the plan, each building will be sold to an income-qualified private buyer who will live in a three-bedroom unit and rent out the second, two-bedroom unit at an affordable rent to families earning at or below 80 percent and 120 percent of area median income, respectively. Rental income will help offset the cost of a 30-year mortgage. The pre-construction asking price for each building is approximately $585,000, though final pricing will depend on construction costs and available down payment assistance provided through the project and the Town. Monthly rent is expected to be approximately $2,100. The project is anticipated to be completed by late summer, and qualified buyers, based on income guidelines, are currently being identified.
The arrangement is designed to confront a central challenge facing many small towns in South County: building housing at below-market rates. High land costs, a large number of high-income buyers from metropolitan areas, and limited water and sewer infrastructure often make it prohibitively expensive to buy or build housing that aligns with local wages.
Being of-counsel to a law firm that represents low-income tenants in Housing Court, Mishkin says it took time for him to appreciate the importance of pursuing housing that serves a broader range of incomes.
“I sat in lots of discussions where smart, fair-minded people would say we need to build for people with lower incomes, but nobody would do it because it doesn’t make economic sense unless you are a nonprofit like the CDC of South Berkshire and can do it in places like Great Barrington. Even there, it’s very, very hard.”
“The thing is, employers like Fairview Hospital have difficulty hiring staff because there’s nowhere for people to live,” he adds. “If we can’t provide housing for those workers, there won’t be a community for anyone. There’s no single solution. We just need more housing. This is one important piece of how to do that.”
The project has drawn the attention of Massachusetts state housing officials, who are viewing it as a potential pilot for rural housing development in other small towns across the state. According to Mishkin, several communities have already reached out to the Egremont Affordable Housing Trust seeking guidance.
For Mishkin, service on a town board has also deepened his appreciation for Egremont. That appreciation runs deep; years earlier, he wrote a song declaring that “Egremont proves what dreams are for.”
Mishkin first came to the Berkshires at age 14, attending Eisner Camp for two summers. “I remember distinctly getting here, looking around, and thinking this is the greatest place on earth,” he recalls. “I’m coming back.”
After law school in Washington, D.C., he joked to his wife-to-be, “You hang out with me, you get the Berkshires. This is not negotiable.” They bought a house on Blunt Road in 2007 and moved to the Berkshires full-time in 2018.
“There’s a world of people here like me, but I resist the label of retired,” Mishkin says. “I no longer work for a living, but I work. I don’t have hobbies. I just have things I work at that I love. This has been a great vehicle to meet people I wouldn’t otherwise know.”
He describes the Trust’s approach as practical and grounded. “The most important thing is listening,” he says. “People here work five and six days a week. They don’t have time to pay attention to what’s going on at Town Hall, so we have to make that extra effort to understand. I like to think we’ve succeeded in building community support for our various housing initiatives by giving people the facts and explaining how things will work. ”
When asked about the scope of the challenge of keeping South County affordable for families who have lived here for generations, Mishkin turns to the words of folk singer Pete Seeger, whom he calls his hero.
“Our chances are fifty-fifty,” he says. “That means what each one of us does or doesn’t do could make a difference. That kind of spirit motivates me. There are a lot of challenges, but we’re also doing many things right. That’s encouraging.”
