The Old Colony region stretches from Brockton all the way to the Cape Cod Canal, encompassing a wide variety of urban, suburban, and semi-rural communities. Housing challenges in this region include lack of rental and multifamily options in many towns, and high prices compared to incomes across the region. Current forecasts indicate that the population of the region will grow slowly over the coming decades, while the number of households is anticipated to grow by 6.3% due to new households forming and latent demand. EOHLC projects that the Old Colony region needs to add 9,300 homes to the year-round stock over the next decade in order to achieve housing abundance, an increase of 7.7% over the 2020 housing stock.
Old Colony Region Housing Overview
The Old Colony Planning Council region encompasses 17 communities. The region is home to a designated Gateway City, Brockton, as well as the state’s largest municipality by land area, Plymouth. Brockton and Plymouth reflect the diversity of communities in the region. The city of Brockton has the second largest Black population in the state both in terms of number of residents and share. Brockton is a dense, post-industrial urban center, earning the nickname “Shoe City” for its historical shoe manufacturing. The city has over 100,000 residents spread across 21 square miles. Plymouth is a coastal, suburban community that is also a tourist destination, agricultural center, particularly famous for cranberries, and contains a large green space in the form of Miles Standish State Forest. The town is large, with 65,000 residents, but they are distributed across 96 square miles. The two communities also differ economically, Brockton has twice the rate of poverty of Plymouth.
Currently, “the region struggles to supply enough good, affordable, and accessible housing that is connected to jobs and services”. The geographic, and socioeconomic distinctions between the region’s 17 communities can make addressing this shortage of housing more difficult because each community has unique needs. But the housing shortage is a serious issue in the region, renters and homeowners in the region are cost burdened. For instance, about 30 percent of renters are cost-burdened and almost 16 percent of homeowners are severely cost burdened in the town of Hanson. In neighboring Halifax, the renter burden is closer to 35 percent with 16 percent of homeowners burdened. Regionwide, cost burden for owners is 3% higher than it is statewide (29.2% vs 26.3%), and one in eight homeowners is severely cost burdened, 1.5 percentage points higher than the statewide figure.
Old Colony Region Housing Demand
As with other regions, population in the region is projected to remain stable or grow slowly after a period of robust growth from 2010 – 2020. The population grew 8.8% over that decade, but is projected to increase by only 0.9% in the middle series projection prepared by UMDI and 2.1% in the high series. A decline of 12,500 residents under the age of 40 is offset by an increase of 16,000 older adults.
Despite the stable population, the region is projected to see a growing number of households, which are projected to increase by 6.3% in the Competing and Growing scenario. As Baby Boomers age, the number of Older Adult households is projected to increase by 50%, an increase of nearly 7,700 households.
Households headed by older adults are projected to grow across every income level, especially at lower incomes. The region is projected to experience an increase of 4,700 older adults with incomes below $75,000, including 2,200 extremely low-income older adults living alone. Notably, higher-income non-senior households without children are projected to decline.
EOHLC projects that the Old Colony region needs to add 9,300 homes to the year-round stock over the next decade in order to achieve housing abundance, an increase of 7.7% over the 2020 housing stock. This includes about 1,700 homes available for sale or rent and 2,500 homes for households that are currently overcrowded, doubled up, homeless, or in otherwise unsuitable conditions. Under the high-growth scenario, the region could need as many as 10,300 homes, an increase of 8.6% over the 2020 housing stock.
Old Colony Region Housing Strategies
As part of their housing planning, the OCPC specifically identifies that seniors need the ability to downsize while remaining close to friends, family and services. Supporting residents staying in their homes as their age is a top priority and believe planning for an aging population benefits all residents of the region.[1]An example of how OCPC applied an age-friendly lens to their housing works in the inclusion of Age-Friendly Action Plan in a community’s housing production plan, the most recent example being for the town of Easton.[2] In addition to housing work, OCPC operates the local Area Agency on Aging (AAA). This entity includes all OCPC members as well as six additional communities outside of the normal OCPC jurisdiction. The agency provides support services for the local elderly population such as shuttle services and distributes funding from the Older Americans Act of 1965. The AAA allows OCPC to better support older residents in the region while the planning agency works to improve access to housing. [3] Improving the quality and availability of appropriately sized, accessible and affordable homes for the region’s older residents will go a long way towards addressing the local housing shortage.
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