KENT—The numbers are in, and the results are as expected: Kent needs more workforce housing.
More than 90 employees working in the town took the time to respond to a survey conducted by Kent Affordable Housing (KAH). Seventy-five percent of persons who both live and work in the town said they would like to move but want to remain within the confines of the community.
“The most surprising thing in the survey results is the number of people who live here and want to move,” said Justin Potter, president of KAH. “They are living with parents or too many roommates. Seventy-five percent corroborates what we hear from the fire department that they have lost people who had less-than-optimal rentals and had to move. One person who grew up in Kent joined the fire department as an Explorer and became a full member at 18, but then had to move out of Kent when his rent was jacked up.”
“The most surprising thing in the survey results is the number of people who live here and want to move. They are living with parents or too many roommates.”
—Justin Potter, president Kent Affordable Housing
There is evidence that volunteerism would be affected by more affordable housing. Twenty-seven percent said they would be interested in joining the fire department if there was affordable housing available for emergency responders.
Other results showed that 64 percent of respondents who work in Kent do not live here but would move to Kent if they could find affordable housing. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents said they commute up to 15 minutes, but one person traveled all the way from Poughkeepsie.
Potter said answers to the “thoroughly unscientific” survey were heavily weighted toward people who live and work in Kent, many of them younger people trying to find a toehold in the town. But more than 20 employers also replied, with 68 percent saying they have trouble recruiting and retaining employees because of the lack of housing. Forty-eight percent of employers said the housing situation affects a potential new hire’s ability to accept a position.
Potter said the original intent of the survey was to provide data to apply to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, which has a tranche of money restricted to building affordable housing for workers in the town where a survey is done.
“We initially thought it might be used to create housing for emergency responders, but we have since gone in another direction on that,” he said.
At present, the Kent Volunteer Fire Department has developed a conceptual plan for three housing units in the large storage space behind its firehouse. “The fire department has huge recruitment issues,” said Potter. “It has applied for congressionally directed spending, but it won’t hear about that for quite a while. The nice thing about that source is that most funding does not allow you to restrict applicants, but this would be just for first responders.”
As for the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority funds, if a grant is received, it would require that applicants work in Kent. “The source of the funding very directly addresses a great need,” said Potter.
