Speakers from Somerville, Hadley and Martha’s Vineyard were united in their call for legislation to address a statewide problem: lack of affordable housing.
Questions and compliments came from all directions at Monday night’s forum on the renewed effort to create a housing bank on Martha’s Vineyard, as organizers aired the long-term plan.
As the affordable housing crisis on Martha’s Vineyard escalates to unprecedented heights, a wide-ranging group working to establish a housing bank will host two public listening sessions this week to hear feedback from Islanders. The first session is tonight from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The fight for affordable housing on the Island cannot be won without a serious wad of cash, according to the activists for cheaper housing.
On Wednesday night at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury, advocates unveiled a plan that could funnel millions of dollars into the effort on the Vineyard and promise tangible results as early as next year in the form of cash for land and houses and subsidies for rent or down-payments on homes.
For the second time in as many years, a grass roots coalition to form a Martha’s Vineyard housing bank has begun to take hold on the Island —this time joining at least six other communities across the commonwealth.
With five towns now calling for further review, the plan to create an Islandwide housing bank is officially on hold. West Tisbury voters decided Tuesday night to reconsider an earlier vote to approve the bank.
