Three Island residents walked away from the Tisbury selectmen’s meeting this past week with the opportunity to buy a home close to downtown Vineyard Haven for a dramatically reduced price.
NANTUCKET - Walter Beinecke's name is spoken with a sense of awe and an undercurrent of resentment. He's the fellow, people here will tell you, who in the 1960s awoke this sleepy little island. He's the entrepreneur, who, owning much of Nantucket's downtown and practically all of the working harborfront - jammed with more fishing vessels than tourists in those days, did the math. He figured the place could benefit more from 100 people spending $100 each than 1,000 people buying a $10 T-shirt.
It's the story of one Island family's refusal to gouge
another year-round family struggling to find a home in an expensive real
estate market. It's the story of a real estate broker determined
to find the perfect buyer - a moderate-income Island family
desperate to buy their own home after a decade of shuffling from one
inadequate rental to another.
For once, it's an affordable housing story with a happy
ending.
MVC Power of Review on Housing Projects Upheld in Key Ruling by
State Land Court
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
In a groundbreaking decision that affects every town on the
Vineyard, the chief justice of the Massachusetts Land Court ruled last
week that the Martha's Vineyard Commission has full power of
review over low and moderate income housing projects under Chapter 40B,
a section of state law commonly known as the anti-snob zoning statute.
The chief justice of the Massachusetts Land Court heard arguments
this week in a groundbreaking case that will ultimately decide whether
the Martha's Vineyard Commission has the power to review low and
moderate-income housing projects under Chapter 40B, a section of state
law commonly known as the anti-snob zoning statute.
Housing Crisis Spurs Initiatives
Grim Housing Needs Assessment Underscores Important Search to Ease Lack of Affordable Shelter on the Vineyard
By MANDY LOCKE
Twenty-eight million dollars.
It's less than five per cent of the $6 billion Vineyard
housing market. It's only $6 million more than the recent $22
million sale of the former Sharpe house in Edgartown. It's but a
$233 contribution from each seasonal and year-round resident.
You know exactly who they are - your son's second grade teacher, your neighbor whose spouse left last year, the EMT who revived your father last month. It's the regional high school class of 1997.
This is but a snapshot of the nearly 2,000 faces of those unfortunate enough to struggle month after month, year after year with the lack of affordable housing on Martha's Vineyard.
You've heard their stories dozens of times, but do you know just how severe the affordable housing problem is?
