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Construct's Berkshire Housing Director June Wolfe looks through comments on housing needs and challenges at Wednesday's state housing session.
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Gina McLaughlin, senior adviser to the secretary, provides some facts on housing in the Berkshires.
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BCC President Ellen Kennedy welcomes the session participants.
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Augustus goes over the agenda and the purpose of the listening session.

Berkshire Housing Woes Heard at State Listening Session

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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Housing Secretary Edward Augustus Jr. addresses local leaders at a housing session in Pittsfield, his second stop on a swing through the Berkshires. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Affordability, transportation, incentives, and equity were identified as vital areas related to housing development in the Berkshires during a listening session on Wednesday to inform Gov. Maura Healey's plans to address the housing crisis. 

Around 100 local officials, business and community leaders and residents attended the session that will help fuel the state's five-year housing plan. They heard from Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Edward Augustus Jr. about the Healey-Driscoll administration's efforts and then broke into group discussions on the Berkshire Community College campus.

"It is a plan that is for the entire commonwealth, not a plan that is Boston-centric or Eastern Mass-centric," said Augustus, who in the morning was talking about public housing in Adams. "And that's why we're all here today."

This was the fifth session of 14 total.

"I think many of us in this room would attest that there have been decades in which coming to Western Mass meant stopping at Springfield," BCC's President Ellen Kennedy said.

"And I think we owe so much to the Healey Driscoll administration and to Secretary Augustus that they understand the value of listening to what other people in the Berkshires have to say but also to our commitment to trying to find ways to address it and every one of us has a different perspective and a different way that we can contribute to this conversation."

The top areas of focus were identified during one of the breakout sessions. Participants posted answers on whiteboard with two asking "What is your dream for housing in Massachusetts?" and "What potential solutions and strategies would you like MA to explore in the Statewide Housing Plan?"

Sheila Irvin, Pittsfield delegate on the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, would like to see stable, secure, and connected communities.

"People wind up in places where they are isolated," she said. "Part of having a home is being part of a neighborhood or community where people come together for a common goal."

Leigh Davis, vice chair of the Great Barrington Select Board, said there is an increasing feeling of isolation and lack of connection and that housing can bring people together. She referenced the senior population, who may need or want to downsize but have no viable options due to price and availability.

"So more intergenerational opportunities and co-living arrangements and looking at letting people downsize with dignity and really bringing together the feeling connection and addressing isolation," she said.

"And then with houses that they do leave, being able to refurbish them and make sure that we're caring for the housing that is existing."

"I think we need to write into our constitution that housing is a right, it's going to be guaranteed," said Kamaar Taliaferro, a member of the Pittsfield Affordable Housing Trust.

Taliaferro cited a proposal currently before the trust that is seeking $10 million from the MassHousing CommonWealth Builder Program, suggesting that proposals tied to equity require community listening sessions. The project design raised concerns from some trustees who feel it does not fit in with the vernacular of the area.

"I get to talk with the developer and I get to press them and I get to be like 'Why does this look like Tampa, Fla.? We're in Pittsfield, this is the middle of our downtown,'" he said. "But not everybody gets that opportunity."

Lenox Select Board member Marybeth Mitts also spoke about equity, asserting that there needs to be housing options for every socioeconomic level in each community.

 "We should not be putting certain people in certain towns and certain neighborhoods," she said.

Residents of rural communities also detailed the struggles of providing new housing without the proper infrastructure to support it and the stigma behind affordable housing.

Jonathan Butler, president & CEO of 1Berkshire, pointed out that Pittsfield has seen great success with the Housing Development Incentive Program but it is only available in gateway cities and needs to be expanded so that other communities can be eligible.



The Statewide Housing Plan, accompanied by the proposed $4.1 billion Affordable Homes Act, recognizes housing scarcity, income inequality, geographic diversity, and the cost of construction as major drivers of the current crisis. It is touted as the first in Massachusetts for over 40 years.

The housing secretary explained that the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities will soon celebrate one year of being a standalone secretariat. The office was created out of cries for housing solutions across the state.

"That really was a reflection of the voices that governor and [Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll] heard as they were campaigning two years ago around the state," he said.

"That every place they went, every audience regardless of whether it was CEOs or hospital administrators or college presidents or community-based organizations or labor unions or tenant organizations, everybody said the same thing: housing, housing, housing. That is the most pressing issue confronting various organizations and communities across Massachusetts."

Gina McLaughlin, senior adviser to the secretary, said there is a lack of supply across the United States combined with increased demand.

"There are some trends in this area around interest rates, cost of construction, labor shortages, and public resource availability that across the country are affecting everyone's ability to have an adequate supply of housing," she said. "At the same time, the commonwealth housing challenges have some uniqueness to them."

Statewide, vacancy rates are at a historic low with only 1.6 percent of units for sale or rent coupled with increased demand and restrictive zoning. The number of middle-income households has declined since the 1990s with high-income and low-income households increasing and a growing number of extremely low-income households.

"Homelessness and emergency assistance is a topic that our office spends a lot of time on. As you can imagine, we have an increased number of families and individuals experiencing homelessness and families are remaining in what is supposed to be a temporary shelter for even longer because there are there are less units available for those families to transition into," McLaughlin said.

Socio-economic and racial equity is also a part of the conversation, as the Black and Latino homeownership rate is half of the white homeownership rate.

The office found that Berkshire County residents have lower incomes than the rest of the state. This is especially true for renters, with only 21 percent earning more than $75,000 annually compared to 40 percent statewide.

Renters' cost burden is also worse, with more than one in four of these households spending more than half of their income on rent and utilities. Homeowners were also shown to struggle with housing costs, as one-quarter of owners in the county are cost-burdened, and 10 percent pay more than half of their income in mortgage and utilities.

The median sale price for single-family homes and condos in Berkshire County rose 58 percent from 2012 to 2021 and only 1.4 percent of homes are available for sale or rent. On the other hand, seasonal and vacation homes exceed 25 percent and even 50 percent in many Berkshire towns.

"We also want to think about things that are specific regionally across the state and short-term rentals and their impact is certainly high here in the Berkshires," McLaughlin said.

"The growth of short-term rentals and second homes is a significant factor in general home price and in home rental and purchase availability. Nearly 1/5 of Berkshire County homes are unavailable for year-round residents."

Augustus explained that he is often quoted saying the world is run by people who show up.

"And you all showed up today," he said. "You're going to have a disproportionate voice because you came here and you're going to be able to influence what's in this housing plan for the next five years."


Tags: housing,   listening tour,   state officials,   

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Free community college a boon for students, workforce and local economy

Linda Clairmont & Lori Moon Guest Column
It's no secret that the rising cost of college tuition, together with unprecedented increases in the cost of living, creates a barrier for many people seeking to better themselves through higher education. It's also no secret that this barrier can be even harder to overcome for historically marginalized people. At Berkshire Community College (BCC), we strive every day to break barriers and make quality education accessible to all.
 
Thanks to two programs launched by the Commonwealth, MassReconnect and MassEducate, getting an associate degree or certificate at BCC is more accessible than ever. The programs can provide free tuition and fees, and even an allowance for books, to eligible students.
 
These unprecedented financial incentives are having an immediate impact on community colleges like BCC. In the 2023-24 BCC academic year, there were 158 BCC students who received free tuition; in the 2024-25 year, initial figures show impressive growth with 254 such students. And, the number of total enrolled students at BCC has grown 29 percent this year over last, with nursing students comprising the largest portion of the student population.
 
Clearly, the financial incentives now available are taking hold, and we at BCC expect to see enrollment numbers increase further as awareness grows.
 
With the recent closure of Mildred Elley's Pittsfield campus, BCC welcomes all former students there to apply to the College — especially nursing students. The 2023 cohort of BCC's Practical Nurse (PN) program was ranked number one in Massachusetts and in the nation for its 100 percent pass rate of the NCLEX exam. Fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), BCC's PN program is chaired by Associate Professor Katie Polchlopek, one of four dedicated faculty. Just two weeks ago, BCC welcomed a full class into the program. Now that many nursing students can attend the College for free, BCC is ready to accept more students every fall and anticipates an ever larger, more diverse student nursing population.
 
Those interested in the healthcare industry can also earn a certificate in health information management or medical coding. Becoming a medical coder doesn't require a four-year college education — or even a two-year college education. You can earn a certificate in as few as eight months, and with a projected 7 percent rise in medical coding jobs by 2028, it is a fast and efficient way to transition to this profitable career path.Meanwhile, BCC's Workforce Development and Community Education department offers a wealth of job training opportunities, filling needs in the local workforce and, in turn, significantly boosting the economy of the Berkshires. For example, BCC conducts in-person and virtual emergency medical technician (EMT) training. Of the 13 students who completed the most recent EMT training sessions, nine took the required psychomotor test, and all nine passed the exam. This means that once these students pass the written exam, they will be ready for immediate employment as EMTs in Berkshire County, filling a critical workforce gap.
 
With a new focus on teaching trades, BCC offers an Advanced Manufacturing Technician (AMT) certificate and a Class B commercial driver's license (CDL) training course, which recently filled its first cohort of the year. Working with professional instructors at United Tractor Trailer School, BCC trains students for a career in trucking, a rapidly growing industry that offers competitive salaries in the Berkshires and across the country. The training includes 40 hours of classroom, field and on-the-road instruction, and tuition scholarships are available. In addition, we have developed a new curriculum for HVAC training and hope to launch our first class in 2025.
 
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