Massachusetts is facing a housing crisis. We are creating jobs exponentially faster than we are creating housing. Housing prices are skyrocketing, while salaries increase at a much slower rate. Owning a home in Wellesley is becoming less and less attainable for all but the most fortunate. What will this mean for the future of our community?
Join us on January 30, at 7pm, at the Wellesley Free Library, for a panel discussion on the facts about how housing impacts Wellesley and our future. The program, “No Place Like Home: Attainable, Affordable, Sustainable Housing – In Our Town?,” includes panelists: Eric Shupin, Director of Public Policy, Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), Amy Dain, Consultant, Dain Research, Shelly Goehring, Senior Program Manager, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, and Rebecca Winterich-Knox, Net Zero Organizer, Massachusetts Climate Action Network.
Our housing challenge lies far beyond 40Bs. In Wellesley, we are seeing a sharp decline in our student population. It isn’t hard to believe that this is due, in part, to the fact that it is difficult for young families to buy homes here. Today, fewer than 50% of Wellesley households have school age children. How will demographic changes impact residents’ needs in the future? Where will our children be able to live when they start their families? To where will we retire? How many of our current police officers and firefighters live in town? (Answer: three police officers and three firefighters.) How far do the people who service our daily needs have to travel to come to work in Wellesley each day? And, how does the choice of housing and housing location impact our climate?
This event is co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters Wellesley and the Wellesley Free Library. Also sponsoring are Sustainable Wellesley, World of Wellesley, Wellesley’s COA, Building a Better Wellesley, Our Affordable Wellesley, TBE Racial Justice Initiative, UU Wellesley Hills Advocacy & Witness, and The Village Church.
For more information, visit LWVWellesley.org.
Sincerely,
Ann-Mara Lanza
Vice President, LWV of Wellesley
18 Oakland St.
