High housing costs, poor housing quality and long commutes are endemic in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut metropolitan area, putting the region at an extreme economic disadvantage and diminishing residents’ quality of life, concludes a new report, Out of Balance: The Housing Crisis from a Regional Perspective. Researchers from the Regional Plan Association and Citizens Housing and Planning Council, researchers found 29 percent of area
households spend more than 35 percent of their income on housing, and the number of affordable units is shrinking even as the number of households that need them grows. The region also has the oldest housing stock and longest work commutes in the nation. “Housing is a regional issue that
is crucial to economic competitiveness,” said Robert Yaro, president of Regional Plan Association. “Employers make business-location decisions based on the ability to attract a talented workforce, and our region’s housing
crisis makes it increasingly difficult to attract and retain residents at all income levels.” Data from this report will form the basis of a policy paper due out next fall about ways city and state governments can address
the housing crisis. [05/24/04]