HYANNIS – A Barnstable County official outlined how the Cape’s economy has been impacted by the region’s housing crisis.
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Advisory Committee Chair Paul Niedzwiecki spoke at a recent board meeting of the commissioners as the committee prepares its housing recommendations on how to spend some of the federal COVID-19 relief money.
Niedzwiecki said a new study that found the housing crisis is contributing to the Cape’s shrinking force informed the group on their strategy.
The study found that the Cape is losing hundreds of workforce families each year and that 50% of the region’s workforce is commuting from another county.
“So we are already starting to feel significant economic impacts from our inability to house our workforce,” he said.
He cited measures like businesses having to close a few days a week to give understaffed work crews a break and hotels having to devote several rooms to house their seasonal workers.
Niedzwiecki said although summers have felt busy, the Cape’s GDP is declining.
“This is an unsustainable trajectory for the workforce and the labor force. And it’s making the Cape a less affordable place everyday for everyone,” Niedzwiecki said.
“Even if you own property and you’ve seen the equity in your property increase, the community’s still becoming less and less affordable to you on a daily basis,” he added.
Niedzwiecki said although the housing crisis is ubiquitous, “it hits the Cape in a different way.”
He listed the factors that make the region’s housing problems unique, including limited land left to develop, zoning issues, and the pressures on the year-round rental inventory brought on by seasonal renters and the large second homeowner market.
Niedzwiecki noted that the Cape is heavily reliant on the J-1 visa program. He said there were less J-1 workers this summer because the sponsoring agencies required that employers provide housing this year.
Niedzwiecki said a possible step would be to coordinate with the J-1 host program on housing efforts, which could fill gaps in the labor market by next summer.
The ARPA Advisory Committee will hold another meeting before delivering its housing recommendations to the county commissioners.
By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter.
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