![]() ![]() Women took part in the survey 2 to 1 over men. The two largest age groups who responded - split at 31 and 31 percent evenly - were age 35 to 54 and age 65 to 79. Most agreed - 89 percent- that the design of the developments are important and should fit in with the physical characteristics of Branford. Some 68 percent thought the town should take “concrete steps” to create more affordable housing. Some 80 percent of respondents own their own homes and 70 percent said they live in single family detached house.Ībout two thirds of respondents said they felt their next housing option would be a smaller dwelling and two thirds said they wanted to own their next housing option. In the survey, about half equated affordable housing with low income housing, according to Smith, although some 33 percent said they thought it meant housing for people “earning typical wages.” Below is a chart that shows what qualified applicants can afford. The town compiled results earlier this month. This meeting follows the completion of an online Branford housing survey, which 900 residents completed in December. So you really can’t blame people - it’s not irrational for them to worry about who their neighbors are going to be.” Branford’s housing survey “Their family security, their children’s education, their retirement. “On top of that most people when they buy a home are writing the largest check they’ll ever write and everything is tied up in that huge investment,” Fink said. “People who live in a community live there because they like the community the way it is and they don’t want to see it change.” “I don’t blame people for thinking that,” Fink said. He also debunked the popular misconceptions that mixed-income housing will lower property values and burden the school system, saying that “the research proves that’s not true.” “The misperception is it’s going to be ugly and going to be a threat to the community,” Fink said. Occupants range from working class individuals, to professionals, to young families, to baby boomers who want to downsize, to elderly people who want to age in place, to municipal workers in the community who want to live in the community they serve - like police officers, firefighters, teaches and EMTs, he said. “They provide housing to people who need it,” Fink added. “They just think it will ruin their neighborhood, ruin their community and ruin their quality of life,” Fink said.īut many neighbors of these mixed income developments, he said, “have found those homes to be a really good addition to the community.” ![]() They imagine all affordable housing is quote-unquote - the projects - full of dangerous people. “A lot of it is housing for middle income people who are just squeezed out of the housing market.”įink agreed, “People have stereotypes. Much of affordable housing is in the category called “workforce housing,” he noted. “It’s not Section 8 housing per se - although that’s a part of it.” “It’s not just limited to housing for very poor folks,” Smith said. The meeting will also be broadcast on Branford Community Television. To help residents learn more about affordable housing, the town is holding the informational meeting on Zoom with this link. “Affordable housing,” is a phrase that town officials have been saying more and more and it’s “not generally understood,” agreed Town Planner Harry Smith. “It’s usually not true - there are really, really good examples all around the state to prove it’s not true,” said David Fink, housing consultant with South Central Regional Council of Governments.įink said there are plenty of examples of “really beautifully designed affordable mixed income housing, filled with very nice people who work hard.”
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