LI's housing shortage is a problem for everybody

Long Island comprises a wealth of assets — plentiful natural resources, updated transportation infrastructure, growing industries, and academic, research and medical institutions offering excellent employment opportunities to rising generations of Long Islanders.

But such opportunities cannot be leveraged without affordable housing, and in the past two years, our region’s housing prices and rents have increased, by more than 40% by some measures. Today, more than 300,000 Long Island homeowners and renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs and struggle to live in the towns in which they grew up.

This issue has percolated for decades and was documented for 15 years by the Long Island Index. Its repercussions on our local economy continue to be dire: Businesses struggle to attract staff, and manufacturers to attract skilled workers. The only solution is to expand and diversify our housing supply.

But how to achieve this, given our political fragmentation and dysfunctional zoning laws? Over the last year, the Rauch Foundation and Long Island Community Foundation have sponsored conversations among housing advocates, developers, health and human services providers, business and civic groups, and philanthropy organizations to grow consensus on the way forward, including looking at how other regions are addressing the need for affordable housing.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recent State of the State address proposed rezoning a half-mile radius around train stations to accommodate transit-oriented development. Mineola, Westbury, Farmingdale, Wyandanch, Patchogue, and Port Jefferson, among others, have already completed key projects and revitalized their downtowns. Hicksville, Central Islip, Amityville, Baldwin, and Riverhead are leveraging $10 million state Downtown Revitalization Initiative grants to bring residents — and foot traffic — to their downtowns with mixed-use development near their rail stations.

Still, the scale of production is not nearly enough to meet demand, which will only increase as completion of the Long Island Rail Road's Third Track and East Side Access projects improve mobility for New York City commuters traveling in both directions. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leverage the MTA’s $14 billion investment in these projects by heeding Hochul’s ideas around transit-oriented development.

With 8,300 acres available for development within a half-mile of Long Island's rail stations, transit-oriented development is a proven tool for centering new vitality in the heart of our villages. It translates into new people on the streets, new stores, new restaurants, and an opportunity to create housing that younger people, in particular, can afford. It opens a doorway to a somewhat different suburbia with its own social dynamic, offering young families an attractive and affordable place to live, work, and raise families.

Progress demands that governments at the local, state, and federal levels work together to provide legislative and economic incentives for the private sector to meet growing demand. Forging such an alliance calls for organized community support. Happily, we have an excellent road map in the form of our region’s successful, cross-sector campaign to build the Third Track, which included participation by business, organized labor, philanthropy, academic institutions, and civic organizations of all stripes.

We are at a critical moment. Long Island’s housing sector — builders and advocates alike — have educated themselves about best practices that have successfully incentivized the development of such housing elsewhere. We need to bring all sectors of Long Island together to make our region home to those who have been shut out. If we don’t, we will lose out as talent moves elsewhere.

This guest essay reflects the views of Nancy Rauch Douzinas, president of the Rauch Foundation of Long Island, and Sol Marie Alfonso-Jones, senior program officer of the Long Island Community Foundation.