Report Conveys Duality in State of Housing Crisis

By James Kinsella
Gazette Senior Writer

Market forces continue to outpace efforts on the Vineyard to create
affordable rental and permanent housing.

Further, housing advocates say that while some people who could not
find housing in 2001 may have left the Vineyard, those who stayed likely
have watched the gap widen between the wages they earn and the houses
they hope to buy.

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.