The Southold Town Housing Advisory Committee, with funding from the Long Island Community Foundation and the Town of Southold, has completed “To Live in Southold Town,” an informational video about affordable housing which they hope will help put to rest any fears or reservations people might have about perceived negative impacts of affordable housing in their communities.
The video includes interviews with Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell, young people in the market for affordable housing and members of the housing advisory committee, among others. It also features a visit to East Hampton Town, which currently has over 500 affordable housing units they’ve been creating since the 1980s.
“People are afraid of affordable housing, workforce housing,” housing advisory committee chairperson Rona Smith says in the video. “I think they’re afraid because their house is their biggest investment; it’s their nest egg. For a few of them even the concept of affordable housing is something that would erode home values.”
But that’s not true, she says, citing a study by a real estate company that shows no statistical difference in the rise in housing values in communities with affordable developments.
Southold Town government liaison Denis Noncarrow, who also works with the housing committee, hopes that the video will communicate to the public that affordable housing is not a “negative, terrible thing.”
The video is about changing attitudes, said Smith.
The town board in February hired local videographer Rory MacNish to create the video for a fee of $3,000. It will air on Cablevision Channel 22 and will be posted on the town’s website and on Facebook.
