Above: Southborough’s official “Area” might be different than you’d assume. (state map edited by Beth Melo using HUD data)
When I wrote up last week’s story on the Housing Production Plan (HPP), I found myself confused about some of the details. I followed up with Town officials to get clarity.
I learned a detail that some readers who follow the town’s affordable housing efforts might find interesting.
One of the most striking statistics that the Affordable Housing Trust board shared in their presentation this month was the “reversal” of the affordability of typical homes for households with an Area Median Income. (Read about that here.)
As I noted last week, the HPP hadn’t defined the “Area”. I reached out and learned that it’s not an intuitive one.
It turns out that Southborough is defined as part of the Eastern Worcester County HUD Metro FMR Area.
Our town is in the center of that region with no direct abutters. The closest neighbors are Berlin and Upton. The district also includes Blackstone, Bolton, Harvard, Hopedale, Lancaster, Mendon, Milford, and Millville. (I created the map above right to demonstrate.)
The region is important for more than just the one chart shared by the AHT board. It is the area Town is required to use for calculating “Fair Market Rents” and housing “affordability” requirements related to 40B projects and zoning bylaws.
So the next time you hear Southborough officials discussing Area Median Income, this is the area they’re referring to.
[Editor’s Note: I updated last week’s HPP post with the above info, and other clarifying details learned through my follow up emails with the Affordable Housing Trust board. The only other significant update was clarity that statistics on residents’ housing cost burdens was based on the year 2023.]
