CHICOPEE – Over 100 representatives from local and regional housing authorities come together yesterday morning for the unveiling of a new regional housing plan by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC).
Chicopee’s MassMutual Learning and Conference Center played host for the event, which saw Barbara Fields, regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Region One-New England, and Undersecretary for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Housing and Urban Development Department Aaron Gornstein, speak on behalf of the new program, which is looking to improve the overall housing system in Hampden and Hampshire counties.
Gornstein highlighted the four main priorities of the new plan as being to help households with extreme low-incomes; preserve existing affordable housing; revitalization of Gateway Cities and the diversity of their housing; and opening up accessibility to community opportunities.
“There are 43 municipalities in the region, 18 of which have around only 1,000 residents,” said Jayne Bernhard-Armington, senior planner with the PVPC. “Some of the key findings of our advisory committee were that many of these areas are economically distressed with weak housing markets and restrictive zoning.”
The advisory committee also found, through analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, as well as conducting interviews with housing, social service and planning practitioners, that the top priority among residents in just about every community in the region was affordable housing.
Some of the 13 organizing objectives of the new plan included promoting regional action; addressing vacant, abandoned or foreclosed properties; the creation of elderly housing opportunities and enabling housing choices outside of the central cities in the region through regulatory action.
One of the main points of emphasis for the new plan is the implementation of more market-rate housing in communities throughout the region, which include urban cores like Holyoke and Springfield, small cities and communities with downtowns, such as Northampton and Westfield, suburban communities like Belchertown and Ludlow, exurb communities like Southwick and Monson, and rural areas like Blandford and Russell.
Long considered a vehicle for community revitalization in Westfield, market-rate housing is a concept that Gornstein believes is a necessary part of the new plan.
“We need both affordable and market-rate housing,” he said. “We have some tools and strategies to work with cities and towns… we need to produce more housing and preserve the existing housing we have, but we do recognize that some of our Gateway and medium-sized cities are looking to attract a diversity of residents, and market-rate housing is appropriate in these situations.”
“We discussed weak market forces that are affecting cities,” said Jay Vinskey, city planner for the city of Westfield, who attended one of three breakout sessions which were held after the speakers. “We’d like to see more diverse housing stock in the city and the downtown.”
Vinskey said that the current economic troubles facing communities throughout the Commonwealth have made getting desirable housing stock difficult.
“We talked about certain criteria and incentives regarding the establishment of market-rate housing,” he said. “It’s about how can we make these (housing) more available to Gateway Cities like Westfield.”
The housing plan unveiled at yesterday’s regional forum is just one component of the PVPC’s regional sustainability plan.
