On the Subject of Workforce Housing

As most readers are aware, Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress has been working on creating an Affordable Housing Development Plan for Hudson. This morning, Kate Stryker and Eric Pierson of Pattern for Progress held a focus group on Zoom intended to be for "local business leaders" for the purpose of ensuring "the study provides an accurate assessment of workforce housing needs and related issues." There were eleven participants in the Zoom meeting. Of the eleven, only two were business owners in Hudson. The topics to be considered were:

1. What are the housing challenges from your perspective as an employer?
2. Is housing a reason for workforce shortages or other employee challenges?
3. What is the impact of housing conditions on worker availability/productivity?
4. Do you have workforce challenges, if so, what are they and why?
5. Where do workers live and how far do they have to travel to get to work?

With so few participants, there could be no definitive answers to the questions, but some interesting information did emerge. Kristan Keck, co-owner of Wm. Farmer and Sons, said some of her employees needed to cap their hours and how much they earned in order to keep their subsidized housing. Later in the discussion, Keck spoke of a meeting she had with Benchmark Development, the group that earlier this year proposed constructing a market rate apartment building at First and Warren Street. She reported the principals of Benchmark had argued that, if there were a larger supply of market rate housing in Hudson, people now living in income-based subsidized housing would have a place to go if their incomes increased, disqualifying them for subsidized housing.

Commenting on this information, Sarah Sterling, First Ward supervisor, spoke of seniors in Hudson wanting to downsize and sell their houses but having nowhere to move to in Hudson. Peter Frank concluded, "We just need more housing." Martha Lane concurred, saying, "We need all levels of housing."

Mike Tucker, president and CEO of Columbia Economic Development Corporation (CEDC), shared information troubling to anyone to cares about the architectural character of Hudson. According to Tucker, "The state is not thrilled about investing in existing housing stock in Hudson, because it is cheaper to build new." To this, Keck responded, "We have to protect what we have here."

Although Tucker said, "We want people to be able to walk to work," a comment by Frank put things in a different perspective. He noted there was "a tendency to think we need to solve all our problems within the two square miles of Hudson" and suggested that the solution needed to be regional. That led to conversation about public transportation and the bus that runs between Hudson and Greenport, which Frank characterized as a "shopping shuttle for seniors" rather than transportation for people coming and going from work. 

At the end of the Zoom meeting, Stryker provided an overview of the project. She said they were looking at vacant sites and projects "in the pipeline," which includes projects that have only been proposed, such as the one for 11 Warren Street, Hudson Housing Authority's plans for development, and plan for the former John L. Edwards School.

Pattern for Progress will suggest a timeline for development which considers funding sources. The goal is to complete the work this fall, by the end of October.

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