The Old Colony region stretches from Brockton nearly to 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 to achieve housing abundance, an increase of 7.7% over the 2020 housing stock.
Regional Conditions
The OCPC 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. Brockton, the so-called “City of Champions,” has the second-largest Black population in the state both in terms of number of residents and share, according to ACS 2019-2023 estimates. In 2020, Brockton became the first municipality in Greater Boston to have a Black-majority population, with over 51% identifying as Black on that year’s Census. Brockton is a dense, post-industrial urban center, also 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, an agricultural center famous for its cranberries, and the home of the Miles Standish State Forest. The town is large, with 65,000 residents, but they are distributed across 96 square miles. These two communities also differ socioeconomically, as Brockton has twice the poverty rate of Plymouth.
Currently, OCPC notes that “the region struggles to supply enough good, affordable, and accessible housing that is connected to jobs and services”.[1] The geographic and socioeconomic differences among the region’s 17 communities make it more challenging to address the housing shortage, as each community has its own distinct needs. Renters and homeowners throughout the region face cost burdens, and the housing shortage remains a serious issue in every community. 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 percentage points 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.
Projections and Housing Needs
Like other regions, the population in this area is expected to remain stable or experience slow growth following a period of strong growth from 2010 to 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 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, experiencing homelessness, 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.
Planning and Policy Efforts
At this time, OCPC has partnered with Avon, Brockton, and Stoughton to conduct a regional housing strategy which will serve as a roadmap to guide housing development, preservation, and policy within these three communities over the next decade. This strategy will be finalized in the summer of 2026.
As part of their housing planning work, OCPC believes that planning for an aging population benefits all residents of the region; and advances strategies that enable seniors to downsize while remaining close to friends, family and services. 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. 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. 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 region’s housing challenges.
External Resources
- Old Colony Planning Council: https://oldcolonyplanning.org/
- Housing in the Region, https://oldcolonyplanning.org/housing-in-the-region/