Affordable housing: 'If it was an easy problem to solve, we would have solved it'

Facts about the lack of affordable housing in Fairfield County could surprise many people, but for the panel of experts speaking at a Wednesday forum, “Planning for Affordability in Fairfield County,” the data are facts of life and symptomatic of a housing crisis not being addressed fast enough.

State law requires all municipalities to adopt an affordable housing plan every five years and the plans were due in June.

A recent survey of those plans by the Center of Housing Opportunity, gave Stamford the highest grade on its affordable housing plan with Danbury, Bethel, Fairfield and Westport scoring in the top five.

Issues discussed at the forum included how to procure funding for housing, and specific kinds of affordable housing that could be developed, from small accessory units to high density buildings. 

“We’re on the right track,” Christie Stewart, director of the Center for Housing Opportunity said at the conclusion of the event, but providing more affordable housing is a complex problem that deserves the time and attention of all the municipalities in the region.

Read more in the Westport Journal.