[Year-Round Housing Committee] The Long Islander

[Cade Brown]

Here is an article that the Year Round Housing Committee asked me to
write for the next edition of The Long Islander:

Reasonable Housing

For the last couple of weeks several of the young couples on the
island have gathered with the Year Round Housing Committee to discuss
housing on Long Island.  The YRHC was formed to solve the problem of
affordable housing on the island, a phrase that doesn't sit well in
anyone's mind.  To the landowners of the island it conjures up images
of Kennedy Park, to the young renters a feeling of inadequacy, and
everyone knows that nothing on the island is affordable.  That is why
I am going to refer to it as reasonable housing, borrowing the phrase
from a coworker of mine.  No one is looking for a handout.  Nobody
wants to turn the Dark Forest into a low-income housing complex.
These young, hardworking families are looking for a permanent place in
the community, yet are unable to obtain that goal due to inflated
property prices and the above-normal cost of island living.

One major concern of those attending YRHC meetings is the lack of
exposure to the issue.  Only young families and those with multiple
children - who will one day inherit a portion of a home - have reason
to be concerned.  On an island with few school children and even fewer
young landowners, that's a very small percent.  But in reality
everyone on the island is or will be affected by the lack of young
families and their children.  Without them where will Long Island be
in ten years? Fifteen? Twenty?  The average age of the Fire Department
is forty; the average age of the EMTs is fifty.  I can only think of
one town employee under the age of forty.  Who will take the baton
when the original wave of volunteers tires of running the government?
Those are some scary thoughts.

The first fourteen years of the Town of Long Island marked a period of
the island gaining its feet and its independence.  A lot of time and
money was spent forming its government and infrastructure.  The debt
to Portland is paid off, roads have been paved, equipment upgraded,
asbestos removed, land protected, roofs repaired.  I think it's time
that Long Island stops spending on itself, and starts investing in
itself.  By that I mean more support for its school, its Recreation
department, reasonable year-round housing, assisted living, finding a
way to bring more jobs to the island and young people to fill those
jobs.

To be frank, there is a reason we put up with the cold winters, the
CBL schedule, expensive gas, high cost of living, and lack of social
entertainment.  We are passionate about our island.  I want my
children to attend the Long Island School.  I want Benjamin grow up
with Will and Amy's twins, and Madison to keep his life-long friends.
I want to volunteer as much of my time as possible to help the
community thrive.  In forty years I want to be able to see some of the
same faces around me that I see today.  I do not want watch Long
Island crumble because some can't see the need for young working
families on the island to keep it sustained during the cold months.

The success of the Year Round Housing Committee currently hinges on
the availability of state-funding, which in turn depends on the
results of the Comprehensive Plan and the YRHC Survey.  If the outlook
is bad after the surveys, I hope that we don't give up. We should
press forward in other ways.  Habitats for Humanity works by
volunteers helping to build affordable homes, and those who receive
participate in building future homes.  The proposed YRHC plan is to
start off with one efficient home to be rented out.  With enough help
and hard work the same could be accomplished free of state-funding.
And, as with the current plan, see where it goes from there.  It would
just be a lot easier for the community to help itself, rather then
make a few do the heavy lifting.