Public Forum Scheduled On Housing Needs Of Older Adults

The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) and the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust (AMAHT) will be conducting a public forum on Monday May 23 from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Zoom.  This meeting will be devoted to housing issues. The forum will discuss the preliminary results from the senior survey that was circulated through the town in March and April and gather input from seniors. Topics will include aging in place, home modifications, housing affordability, and safe and walkable neighborhoods.

Discussion topics for this meeting include:

• Aging in place
• Home modifications and repairs
• Affordability and Accessibility
• New housing developments

The senior survey was wildly successful. Of the 500 surveys mailed randomly, 45% were returned. In addition, another 650 were filled out on-line through the town, Amherst Neighbors, and the League of Women Voters websites as well as in person at the Senior Center. In total, 874 surveys have been returned, and more are still coming in.

Although only preliminary results are available at this time, the survey showed that 70% of seniors feel it is important to them to remain in Amherst. The same percentage currently live in single family homes, and 50% would like to remain in their home. Of the rest, 32% plan to move to senior independent living situation.

Most seniors have few concerns about the affordability of housing, but 13% said that their housing is not affordable, and 9% worried about paying for home repairs. Although these percentages are small, it would translate to over 300 seniors in town reporting difficulty affording housing. The Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust has identified increasing affordable housing for seniors as one of its primary goals in the coming years.

Register for this meeting at: https://tinyurl.com/AFAmherstHousing

For more info, please see flyers:

• Housing Listening Session Flyer (English)  
• Folleto de la sesión de escucha sobre vivienda (Español/Spanish)