Needham, MA Community Housing Survey

The Needham Planning Board is sponsoring the preparation of a Housing Plan to obtain updated documentation on demographic shifts and housing conditions. This will help identify priority local housing needs to guide decision-making on the Town’s future housing agenda. To undertake this work, the Planning Board appointed a Working Group composed of representatives of various local boards and committees as well as at-large members of the community.

The Town of Needham has not had an approved Housing Plan in place since 2007, although it has made considerable progress in producing affordable housing since then. A total of 894 units were added to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (“DHCD”) Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) maintained under MGL Chapter 40B, although 238 were actually affordable to those with incomes at or below 80% of area median income and 656 were market-rate units. In counting a community’s progress toward this Chapter 40B 10% threshold, the state counts all housing units in rental developments in the SHI if the development meets a number of requirements under Chapter 40B including that 25% of the units are deed restricted and targeted to those with incomes at or below 80% of area median income (or 20% restricted to those with incomes at or below 50% of area median income), the limits of which are included in the table below. These restricted units are often referred to as “A” affordable. There are moderately-priced units available on the open market that do not qualify for the SHI, referred to as Market Affordable Housing, but they still help address housing needs in the community as do the market-rent units in 40B rental developments.

Despite surpassing this 10% threshold, the Town recognizes that significant unmet housing needs remain, particularly in the context of unprecedented housing prices. Consequently, the Town is revisiting its housing agenda by obtaining updated documentation on the local housing dynamic and preparing a Housing Plan to strategically address identified priority housing needs.

The active engagement of the community is a key component of the planning process. The Working Group has held public forums and workshops to solicit community input. A summary of this input and other materials related to the preparation of the Needham Housing Plan can be accessed at www.needhamma.gov/housingplan2021.

The Housing Plan Working Group is issuing this Community Housing Survey as another means of obtaining community input into the important issue of housing. The Survey is meant to be easy to complete and will only take a few minutes.

Responses to this survey are due no later Thursday, May 19, 2022 at noon. For questions, email planning@needhamma.gov.

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* 1. What does affordable housing mean to you? (Please respond in one sentence below.)

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* 2. How would you rank the importance of affordable housing to the Needham community from a low of 1 (not important at all) to a high of 10 (of utmost importance)?

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* 3. What do you think is a reasonable housing goal (something aspirational to strive for in the years ahead) for the Town to achieve?

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* 4. What do you think are the greatest challenges in producing and preserving housing affordability and diversity in Needham? (Choose your top 3.)

Availability of subsidies to make development financially feasible

High costs of land and construction

Infrastructure capacity issues, including local roads

Lack of local support/political will

Limited developable property

School capacity issues

Zoning restrictions

All of the above

Other (please specify)

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* 5. The Town should focus on promoting the following types of housing units in the community (Choose your top 5.):

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

Assisted living and Memory Care facilities

Conversion of larger single-family homes into multi-family units

Large multi-family rental development

Mixed-use properties (housing and commercial in the same building)

Public Housing redevelopment and expansion

Small cottage-style homes or bungalows

Small multi-family dwellings in more areas (e.g., duplexes, triplexes, quadraplexes)

Special needs group homes

Two-family, owner-occupied dwellings with a rental unit

Units with some shared living space (congregate or co-housing units)

Other (please specify)

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* 6. The best locations for new housing development include: (Choose your top 3)

Business areas along Highland Avenue

Industrial areas near Route 128/95 & Highland Avenue interchange

Other industrial areas (e.g., Hillside Avenue, Reservoir Street, Crescent Street)

In proximity to commuter rail stations

Town Center & Chestnut Street to rail junction

Areas that currently allow two-family homes

Single-family Residence Districts

Undeveloped land at existing public housing locations

Other (please specify)

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* 7. For each of the three locations you chose above, should the building sizes be 1-2 units, 3-4 units, or 5+ units? Different locations may have a different number of units.

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* 8. What target populations do you believe have the greatest housing needs? (Choose your top 5.)

Young adults who were raised in Needham

Disabled individuals

Municipal workers

Seniors (over age 60)

Those employed in Needham

Very low-income households with incomes at or below 50% of area median income (see table below)

Low-income households with incomes between 50% and 80% of area median income (see table below)

Moderate-income households with incomes above 80% of area median income and up to 100% of area median income (see table below)

Households with incomes above 100% of area median income and still shut out of the private housing market

Young families

All of the above

Other (please specify)

HUD INCOME LIMITS FOR THE BOSTON-CAMBRIDGE-QUINCY MA-NH METRO AREA, 2021

# Household	30% AMI	50% AMI	80% AMI	100% AMI
1	$28,200	$47,000	$70,750	$84,560
2	$32,200	$53,700	$80,850	$96,640
3	$36,250	$60,400	$90,950	$108,720
4	$40,250	$67,100	$101,050	$120,800
5	$43,500	$72,500	$109,150	$130,464
6	$46,700	$77,850	$117,250	$140,128

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* 9. What do you think are the most important development or redevelopment actions or strategies for the Town to pursue to address priority housing needs? (Choose your top 5.)

Allow two-family dwellings by-right in more areas.

Broaden Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADUs) zoning to allow occupancy for those who are not family members or caregivers.

Revise zoning and permitting requirements to promote greater energy efficiencies and environmentally sustainable housing development.

Encourage rental development by partnering with developers who can access state funding programs such as the Low Income Housing Tax Credits to provide housing for very low-income households.

Establish new requirements for better controlling teardown activity.

Inventory Town-owned property and identify those parcels that could be used to build more housing (including those that might need regulatory/zoning changes to make housing possible).

Participate in the state MBTA Communities Initiative to promote the required by-right (not through a special permit) multi-family development in proximity to transit and change zoning accordingly.

Promote scattered-site, affordable single and two-family home development.

Require a minimum percent of affordable Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) units for development projects of six or more units on a Town-wide basis.

Restudy and amend downtown and neighborhood zoning to better facilitate multi-family housing construction and/or mixed-use development.

Support the Needham Housing Authority’s plan to renovate, improve, and add to its existing low-income housing.

Waive permitting fees for affordable housing where appropriate.

All of the above

Other (please specify)

None of the above

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* 10. Provide any additional comments on housing issues in Needham in the space below.

Demographic Information (optional)

The following demographic questions are designed to help us understand what segments of the population we are reaching. The information will be kept confidential.

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* 11. Please check all that apply:

I live in Needham

I work in Needham

I do not live in Needham but would like to do so

Other (please specify)

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* 12. Do you own or rent?

Own a condo unit

Own a single family home

Own a 2-family home

Rent a condo unit

Rent a single family home

Rent a unit in a 2-family home or ADU

Rent in a multi-family development

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* 13. How long have you lived in Needham?

Less than 5 years

5-10 years

11-15 years

16-20 years

more than 20 years

I do not live in Needham

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* 14. Do you think that you might move out of Needham at some point in the future?

Yes

Not sure

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* 15. Why might you move out of Needham If you answered yes to question #14 above?

Housing/living costs too high

Prefer a smaller house or unit

Prefer a handicapped accessible house or unit

Prefer elevator-accessible unit (one-floor single-family homes are scarce in Needham)

Prefer to live in a more urban community

Prefer to live in a more rural community

Prefer to live in a warmer climate

Prefer to live closer to my job

Prefer to live closer to family and friends

Other (please specify)

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* 16. Which category best describes your age?

Under 18

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

Prefer not to answer

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* 17. Which of the following best describes your household?

Family with child(ren) living at home (includes single parent)

Couple with no child(ren)

Empty nest couple/single with adult children no longer living at home

Single, living alone, less than 65 years

Single, living alone, 65+ years

Single, living with housemate(s)

Prefer not to answer

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* 18. Which category best describes your annual household income?

Under $10,000

Between $10,000 and $24,999

Between $25,000 and $34,999

Between $35,000 and $49,999

Between $50,000 and $74,999

Between $75,000 and $99,999

Between $100,000 and $149,999

More than $150,000

Prefer not to answer

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* 19. What is your racial or ethnic identity (Check all that apply)

White or Caucasian

Black or African American

Hispanic or Latino

Asian or Asian American

American Indian or Alaska Native

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander

Another race