Great Barrington — State Sen. Paul Mark (D – Becket) and State Sen. Lydia Edwards (D – East Boston) discussed ideas to alleviate the area’s affordable housing crisis at an event at Town Hall on Thursday, September 7. The event included Chair Stephen Bannon and Vice Chair Leigh Davis of the Great Barrington Selectboard and Stockbridge Select Board member Patrick White, along with representatives from various affordable housing-based organizations.
As she explained at the beginning of the meeting, State Sen. Edwards is the chairperson of the Joint Committee on Housing and was on a listening tour of the state to listen to residents about affordable housing issues. “There is an income disparity in my district,” State Rep. Edwards said at the beginning of the meeting. “I have a very working-class, immigrant [community in my district], especially in Revere which is the fastest growing city according to the [United States] Census. And then we have Beacon Hill, where we have the largest concentration of billionaires and millionaires, unless they come out here when the concentration [of billionaires and millionaires dwindles]. Housing is the number one issue [in my district]. I believe that a fundamental aspect of dignified housing is truly being able to choose where you live and having options. That doesn’t mean that you ultimately get anything you want, but there should be choices for income levels.”
Edwards said that, along with Great Barrington, her tour stops include Fitchburg, Holyoke, and Chester, where she has spoken to residents, along with town and city officials, about affordable housing concerns.
“Before I was in politics, I was the Director of the Office of Housing Stability for the city of Boston,” she said. “My job was coming up with innovative ways to keep people housed to stop displacement.”
Davis, who is the chair of the Great Barrington Selectboard’s Planning Board Housing Subcommittee, and is also the communications and community engagement director for Construct Inc., spoke to State Sen. Edwards briefly about Great Barrington’s proposed real estate transfer fee. “With the real estate world out here, 83 percent of sales happening in downtown Great Barrington have been cash sales,” Davis said. “A lot of those sales are at the very high end of the real estate market. What is happening is this downward pressure on people just trying to get their foot on the ladder [when it comes to purchasing homes]. In home sales, we’re having many people come in for second homes, third homes, and investments because the appreciation is so great. And people who have lived their whole lives here, or had kids who want to come back here, are just being pushed out. So we have this real great pressure that’s building.”
Davis said that, from the perspective of her position at Construct Inc., the demand for emergency assistance from residents trying to stay in their homes has increased. “There have been incredible needs for fuel assistance and electric [bills] assistance,” Davis said. “Historically, it’s been fuel assistance [requests from residents], but we’re seeing more and more people looking for help with their electric bills because they have gone sky high. We’ve basically run out of funds. We’ve also run out of funds for emergency hotel stays. With all these prices increasing, residents are becoming evicted and have ended up in cars or tents.” Davis said that the organization has given out 10 tents and 12 sleeping bags since June to residents in need.
“These are residents who have been living in their homes who have been evicted or priced out,” Davis said. “What’s happening is that we don’t have the emergency housing, but these residents have set their roots down here. They are immersed in [Great Barrington], but they find themselves not being able to meet their rents because they are going sky high. The time for families to get in their application for family shelters is between 14 and 21 days. Because of this gap where these [residents] can get into an emergency shelter, they have no place to go.”
Davis added that Construct Inc. has 700 families on its waiting list for affordable housing. “We have this great disparity in income [in Great Barrington],” Davis said. “We have the very, very wealthy who are retiring here, and we have the youth who have grown up here. There’s a big gap there. If you are going to look for a rental in Great Barrington, there is nothing. If any [property] goes for rent, the [rent prices] are going higher and higher. People are coming here, but it’s pushing out people who want to remain here in their homes who have raised their families here. And there’s this greater disparity every single day. So we’re trying to hold on to the uniqueness of this town in the southern Berkshires and try to find that balance.”
Robin Helfand, who is on the board of the Community Development Corporation, emphasized the need for workforce housing in the area. “We have people who can’t afford to live here, and they can’t afford to work here,” Helfand said. “[Residents] can’t afford to purchase the average home, and there is nothing available to rent at any price. With some of our larger employers, we have an eager commitment and engagement to partner up in a public and private partnership to explore outside the box in terms of finding solutions to bring workforce housing [to the area]. If we can’t house our workforce, we won’t have a workforce. That means we won’t have small businesses, because small businesses can’t hire staff.”
Bannon, who is also the chairman of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District Committee, said that, in the past, the school district has had problems in hiring superintendents for the school district. “Even though they were paid $125,000 at the time, there still aren’t a lot of places for them to buy and afford,” Bannon said. “The solution to this is not going to be on the backs of taxpayers. Seven thousand people can’t solve the housing problem.”
“We are in a Dickensian moment where it is the best of times and worst of times in these towns,” White said. “Stockbridge is considered a rich town. There is so much wealth with seasonal residents, and there is so much poverty with full-time residents. Twenty years ago, the median income in Stockbridge was $45,000, and the average home price was $235,000. Twenty years later, the median income is still $45,000, and the average house price sale is $700,000. My assessor tells me it’s going to go up by 15 percent [this year]. Prices are going crazy, and income is not even gaining.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story identified White as the Select Board Chair for Stockbridge. Currently, he is a member of the Select Board.
