Southbury’s prologue on affordable housing

“The past is a foreign country, and the borders are closed” is a quote from a British mystery series that intrigued me, but “what’s past is prologue” (Shakespeare, “The Tempest”) has more of a ring of truth, I think, in considering what’s happening to Southbury’s population.

In a conversation with Mary Silverman, head of Southbury’s Social Services, I learned that she’s had scores of mostly seniors and single parents contact her for help because high energy bills, higher property taxes, higher rents, etc., are eating them out of house and home. Many are finding their housing-cost burden (paying more than 30 percent of their income) becoming an overburden.

Mary, an exceptionally caring and resourceful social worker, can do only so much to help them. She’s had to tell some they may have to leave housing-pricey Southbury. We have no vacancies in affordable housing, and Southbury is a virtual affordable housing desert.

The Pomperaug Health Department (PHD) and SLR’s 2022 Southbury Affordable Housing Plan indicate that our population — already having Connecticut’s highest percentage of seniors — is increasingly aging. PHD predicts a 10 percent increase in seniors by 2025. And SLR states that younger adults are leaving Southbury. Further, our population has decreased since 2010.

If we don’t do more to provide affordable housing to our residents and to young newcomers who can’t afford the high rents/mortgages here, the results are these: (a) growing health and financial problems among housing-cost-burdened seniors, single parents, and others; (b) losing some town volunteers who are retirees and can no longer afford to live here; (c) losing young adults/families due to a lack of affordable housing; (c) higher taxes owing to population decrease; a town economy suffering because of reduced discretionary spending and population decline.

We can’t afford to live in a past Southbury; our prologue compels affordable housing.

I learned that she’s had scores of mostly seniors and single parents contact her for help because high energy bills, higher property taxes, higher rents, etc., are eating them out of house and home.