Affordable Housing on the East End

Real Estate is the talk of the town here in The Hamptons. We love to talk about how much homes have appreciated and who bought what and who sold where. There is, however, an underlying issue that must be addressed:

The Southampton Press
Thursday, April 20, 2006
League To Screen Housing Documentary
A family on the South Fork of Long Island earning the current median annual income of $88,850 can afford to purchase a home for $280,000, according to the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons. But the current median home price on the South Fork is $600,000—and rising. The impact of that “affordability gap” is the topic of a new documentary produced by the League called “Trouble in Paradise: The Affordability Housing Crisis on the South Fork.” Special screenings of the documentary will take place later this month—April 29 at 10 a.m. in the auditorium of Southampton High School, and May 6 at 10 a.m. in the auditorium of East Hampton High School. The showings will be free of charge. The film features testimonials from town officials and department heads, business leaders, and medical professionals, as well as local citizens in need of affordable housing, according to a press release issued by the League. Creator and executive producer Barbara Jordan of East Hampton is a past co-president of the League, and she headed the group’s five-year study of the affordable housing issue. Ms. Jordan is serving a five-year term on the town’s Housing Advisory Board, which advises the Town Board on the use of affordability housing funds, and Housing Authority Board, which manages the town’s affordable housing apartments. The film was made with funds provided by the towns of East Hampton and Southampton, the Donald and Barbara Zucker Foundation, Bridgehampton National Bank, and individual benefactors. All who attend the showings will receive a free pamphlet with further information on the issue. For more information, visit the League’s website at www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org/ Hamptons.htm.

Also see NEW YORK TIMES NEW YORK REGION / NEW YORK/REGION SPECIAL April 23, 2006 Long Island Journal: East End Blues: Working Hard and Unable to Buy a Home By MARCELLE S. FISCHLER BY day, Shawn Beyer teaches English as a second language at Sag Harbor Elementary School. By night, she teaches adults. Her fiancé, Dan Mitchell, works as a chef. Between them, they earn $70,000 a year.