Local housing partnership reviews Wayfinders study, urges focus on family-size units and regional coordination
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Summary
Members discussed a Wayfinders housing study covering Hampshire County, flagged a shortage of larger-family units, and recommended outreach to Valley CDC and Wayfinders for data-driven strategy; parking-rule changes and a rent-stabilization petition were also noted.
Members of the Northampton City Housing Partnership spent the bulk of their meeting reviewing a recent Wayfinders housing study and discussing next steps for regional coordination and housing strategy. The partnership learned Wayfinders had been invited but could not attend; members nonetheless treated the report as a prompt to consider local priorities.
"It's very in-depth and in my mind, not surprising, but certainly the data is useful in terms of thinking about how to kind of make the case," said Bev Bates, a partnership member, referring to the Wayfinders and Donahue Institute findings. Bates and others said the data should inform advocacy and future outreach to developers and neighboring communities.
Members voiced particular concern about the limited supply of larger-family units. One participant said developers’ reported demand for studios and one-bedrooms “doesn't line up with my experience” of families struggling to find three-bedroom apartments. Bates noted Valley CDC's recent rent-up at the Bridge Street property drew a large applicant pool and appeared heavily weighted toward single or small households, suggesting the need to study how listings and lotteries are serving different household sizes.
The group also discussed a recent local policy change: "The city council just passed a bill to reduce the parking requirements for multifamily developments... it's down to 1 [space per unit]," Bates said, noting parking reductions are part of wider downtown pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly planning and can affect housing design and family suitability.
Members identified several potential next steps: invite Valley CDC staff to present rent-up data and lessons learned, monitor Wayfinders’ public events, and consider regional forums with neighboring housing partnerships to compare strategy. The partnership also noted a circulating petition to place rent stabilization on the ballot, which speakers said is related to but distinct from supply-side measures.
The discussion closed with agreement to pursue speaker invitations and monitor legislative developments that could influence local housing strategies. No formal policy directives were adopted during the meeting; members framed the session as information-gathering and planning.
The partnership moved on to other business and administrative updates after the discussion.
