Building Housing Solutions

Cape Cod News editorial staff

More than 300 people came together to find options for the Cape and Island's year-round housing crisis

 "'It's not good news that we're still losing a thousand households a year that make under $100,000... people are still are 400 deep in a wait list to get into an affordable rental... "

 — Alisa Magnotta
CEO, Housing Assistance Corp.

What was the housing summit on Cape Cod?

More than 300 people gathered in Hyannis on October 26 to actively plan and take action to address the shrinking and increasingly expensive year-round housing options on Cape Cod and the Islands. This marks the second year of the summit, which Housing Assistance Corporation CEO Alisa Magnotta says draws on collective efforts to build solutions for an issue that impacts all aspects of the region's ability function. 

What is Cape Cod's housing problem?

Cape Cod and the Islands housing has dramatically increased in price, it has limited availability, much of the housing stock gets used only seasonally, and the mix skews to single family homes with few rental options. As a result, year round families have been priced out of the market and off the Cape. A recent study found that the Cape is losing more than 800 households a year of people earning less than $100,000 and nearly half the region's workers now live off-Cape and commute. This impacts the region's economy and its environment, adds traffic to the bridges, and creates worker shortages in everything from health care to hospitality.


What caused the housing problem?

Magnotta said a combination of zoning and planning decisions, coupled with an overheated market and strong demand for second homes created the lack of rental housing, affordable housing, and overall availability of year-round housing. She noted that we created the problem, but that we can also find solutions to fix the problem as well.


What happened at the summit?

During the summit, a range of speakers from Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll to regional housing advocates and policy makers from individual towns shared updates on state and local initiatives underway.  The goals were to share, learn, and create connections to trigger next steps.


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