Orange County needs workforce housing says commissioner

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Alan Sorenson

TOWN OF WALLKILL – Orange County Planning Commissioner Alan Sorensen addressed the local business community, Tuesday evening during an Orange County Partnership Alliance for Balanced Growth Program dinner, saying the county desperately needs workforce housing for its economic future.

Workforce housing is classified by 60 percent to 120 percent of the county’s annual median income. For Orange County, that translates to $43,020 for 60 percent, $57,360 to $68,832 for 120 percent. A majority of these people would be out-of-college, entry-level professional families trying to find homes.

Sorensen said most young starters can’t afford to live in the county and those homes are being taken by higher-income earners commuting from farther away. He said the economic future of the county depends on providing for those individuals, who would otherwise possibly leave the county and state.

“I believe that Orange County’s long-term economic growth must include provision for affordable workforce housing to enable employees to find workers who can afford to live in our communities,” said Sorensen. “The benefits of providing workforce housing near employment centers is reduced commute times for workers and I think will translate into improved productivity, less employee turnover, lower levels of traffic on area roadways and workers living in Orange County will help to support other businesses to further strengthen our local economy,” he said.

Some of the proposed areas for workforce housing are the Amazon distribution warehouse area in New Windsor-Montgomery, the Amy’s Kitchen in the Goshen area and the Medline in the Montgomery area.

The hope is to turn these areas into new smaller economies of themselves, like small communities where mixed-income housing and retail districts exist symbiotically.




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