Embedded Files
Michelle Tullo
Housing Justice Director, City of Hudson
December 5, 2023
Hudson, NY Context
The lack of obtainable, livable housing is a complex and widespread issue. In this article, I’m going to speak on one piece of this issue from my experience as the Housing Justice Director for the City of Hudson in the Hudson Valley region of New York, a city with about 6,000 residents.
Hudson is unique in that it is small (about two square miles) and dense- the whole city is walkable and most zoning allows for mixed-use and multi-family dwellings. Yet it is classified as rural by the US Department of Agriculture and indeed once you leave Hudson’s borders you are surrounded by farmlands and the edges of three mountain ranges. Hudson’s housing stock is quite old, with over sixty percent of housing being built before 1949. The city is majority renter households and is racially diverse, with only about fifty percent of the population identifying as white-only.
Housing Issues
The lack of available housing in Hudson is severe. The median sale price has increased 99% in the past five years, and there is a $300,000 gap between the median sales price and what the median worker can afford. Median rent is about $1,750 a month which is well above what most workers can afford. As someone who works in the Mayor’s Office and lives in Hudson, I can attest with anecdotes that we hear regularly from people looking for housing and there is rarely anything available that people can afford.
The lack of housing can mainly be attributed to:
Age of housing stock + cost to repair: Almost the entire housing stock is over seventy-five years old, some of it a few hundred years old. Many homes have been in disrepair for quite some time, and the cost of even routine maintenance, let alone major rehabilitations are incredibly expensive, usually greater than $100,000, due to a shortage of laborers and the price of labor and materials.
Gentrification: Due to its historic housing stock and walkable land use, along with the presence of an Amtrak station and direct connection to New York City, there has been a large increase in new residents, mainly from New York City in past years. This increased demand from wealthier residents has led to increased rental and homeownership prices.
Second-home ownership + short-term rentals: For similar reasons as listed above, there has been a large increase in second-home ownership and short-term rentals, which has removed many housing units from the rental or homeowner market. Many houses that used to hold several apartments have been converted to single-family residences that are only occupied part-time.
Lack of sites: Hudson is a small city, and was fortunate to resist many of the demolition projects of the urban renewal era resulting in vast parking lots and underutilized land. The result, however, is that there are very few potential sites for new construction or upzoning.
Cost of living and price disparity: There is a large gap between the wages earned by Hudson residents and the price of housing, and the other costs of living (utilities, transportation) plus health-related costs and bills (like student debt) means that the price of housing is out-of-reach even for households with two wage-earners.
Strategies + Initiatives:
Prevent Eviction: The City created a housing trust fund using private and public funds. One of its programs is Hudson Roots, a low-barrier emergency rental assistance program to help prevent eviction.
- Success: 116 residents have been helped in just the past year on a slim budget of $56,000.
- Could Be Better If…Rent increases were limited and rents were closer in line with people’s wages so that if unexpected costs arise (like medical emergencies) they don’t need to choose between paying medical bills or paying rent.
Preserve Existing Housing: The City is currently managing a $500,000 Community Development Block Group (CDBG) grant for low-income homeowners to perform health and safety rehabilitation work on their homes.
- Success: The rehab work is helping residents to stay stable housing in healthy and safe homes, and preventing them from having to sell the house due to upkeep costs.
- Could Be Better If…Grant requirements were simpler, and contractors were more available for work. Federal grants can be very generous but come with complicated and inefficient processes that can scare off contractors.
Produce More Housing: The City is working to increase rental and homeownership housing by using its vacant parcels for housing and to support other affordable housing projects.
- Success: The City has about three hundred rental units for low- and moderate-income households in the development pipeline over the next five years.
- Could Be Better If…Grant programs like the low-income housing tax credit program were more widely available and more efficient and the development process was more streamlined. Additionally, we are limited by a lack of sites for the construction of homeownership opportunities.
Create Opportunities for Community Stewardship of Land: The City is collaborating with neighboring communities to create a community land trust, called Trillium CLT, to create permanently affordable housing on communally stewarded land.
- Success: To date, Trillium CLT has received several grants, and support across the county, and has officially incorporated. Additionally, New York State has several generous grants for new affordable homeownership construction.
- Could Be Better If…There was more land available in Hudson, greater capacity to develop this organization, and lower interest rates for potential homeowners and construction loans.
Hudson has many assets including strong political will, but at best progress is slow due to the complications of utilizing public funding, the high cost of construction, and the lack of housing supply. That said, our city has made tangible and exciting steps to increasing housing options for low- and moderate-income households in a short time and we expect results to accelerate in the next two years.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse