To the editor:
I commend Marcie Setlow and The Berkshire Edge for arranging this discussion with Mass. Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Edward Augustus and others who continue to work hard to create necessary workforce and affordable housing in Berkshire County. My takeaway from the 90-minute session was that addressing the housing shortage is not going to be remedied in the way that it has been. Perhaps it is time for new thinking.
Workforce and affordable housing shortages are not just a local problem. It is statewide and should be addressed as such. Leaving it to local communities will go nowhere. They lack the financial resources and pool of players to deal with this. Great Barrington is a prime example, where we are facing a tsunami of financial obligations.
We were just hit with a large tax increase. We are now faced with the Housatonic Water Works situation, modernizing the high school, bridges, and roads that need repair, to name a few. My guess is that funds dedicated to housing do not even make this list.
Walking away from the housing shortage is not an option. As one panelist mentioned, when a business cannot attract employees and has to close, the community is not only robbed of that business but also the tax revenue that it generates, which residents have to make up, so we all lose. We have already heard of the stress the lack of affordable housing is placing on the medical community.
There are 351 cities and towns in the state of Massachusetts. Most are dealing with housing issues. Trying to deal with this as a local problem is like playing whack-a-mole. It can’t be done. And looking for Washington to help is like trying to go through a dead-end street. It isn’t going to happen. So we are on our own to solve this. But we should not have to be.
Instead of dealing with this in 351 places, I suggest the state treat this as a one-place problem and fund a statewide public housing plan at a number of strategically placed locations with minimal financial obligation from local communities. This plan makes public housing a regional resource, not just local. Great Barrington, for example, could be a hub for southern Berkshire County. There are sites in downtown Great Barrington, as well as large sites that are away from downtown, that could make sense for this use.
As for sites that are not convenient to shopping, school buses are used early in the morning and in mid-afternoon. Perhaps some can be shuttle buses as needed. If funds for sewer and water become necessary, Mr. Augustus mentioned that there is now a state fund that has been established for infrastructure. And if the state is driving and funding this, the regulations that have hampered development should be better dealt with. In other words, the entire process speeds up.
As some read this, I assume their eyes are rolling. But doing this the way we have been, despite noble efforts, has not made timely and necessary headway. If we do not do something that is out of the box, Great Barrington and the rest of the Berkshires will continue to experience decay of not only infrastructure but also of businesses not being able to survive.
Nothing written above is meant to disrespect those who have dedicated their time and energy toward addressing the housing shortage. My goal is to figure out a new way and press for it.
I hope Ed Augustus is reading this.
Frank Gunsberg
Great Barrington
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