Save Saco Neighborhoods

12/09/2023

12/03/2023

Head over to the Save S**o Neighborhoods Group to take part in a conversation on the definition of "workforce housing" in S**o, and how the city can help improve the affordability crisis:

We have been seeing the term "workforce housing" a lot in the news as Maine grapples with affordability of housing. We wondered - what does it really mean? So, we did a little research.
When a developer says they want to build "workforce housing", it is important for people to check how accurate that statement is. In our experience, we haven't seen any S**o Planning applications that specify pricing schemes for rental units or for sale costs. The City has, in our understanding, no requirements that "lock in" a developer to set prices for their units, or provide any kind of rent or sale price guarantees for planned builds.

We know that S**o does not have a requirement for developers to do what is called "set aside" a percentage of units for guaranteed "Big A-Affordable Housing" (Section 8 or similar) housing as a condition of approval. It has been discussed many times, but never acted upon. This would look like - "If you want us to approve your 332 unit development plan, you must reserve 15% of your units for Affordable Housing for the next 50 years."

What do you think? How should the City deal with this affordability crisis? Should the City require developers to provide pricing up front, especially if a developer makes claims of developing "reasonably priced" housing in application reviews, or even goes as far as to claim they're building "workforce housing"?

Check out the graphic below and let us know in the comments what your ideas are for helping to make both rental and owned housing attainable for the police officers ,firefighters, electricians, municipal workers, teachers, retail employees, restaurant workers, etc. in our City.

11/29/2023

Reposting from Chelsea Jay at Save S**o Neighborhoods group page:

Hi everyone! I just wanted to update you all on the Greek Orthodox Church's spaghetti dinner, held on November 20, for the family of Ms. Li, who was killed when she was struck by a vehicle while crossing in a crosswalk on Bradley Street on November 1. Ms. Li was a fixture in the community, seen almost every day with her husband collecting bottles for redemption.

Today I heard from Pota Desjardins at the Greek Church (a true neighborhood gem - Pota AND the church) and she shared that over 180 people came out for the community dinner, and fundraised at least (a few donations might still be sitting in PayPal waiting to be counted) $5,227 for the family of Ms. Li!!!!!

Combined with the GoFundMe amount (currently at $14,895), we have raised over $20,000 for this family. While no amount of money can ever undo this pain or loss, I am so proud to call you all neighbors and part of the community that we all live in - whether you donated, shared, liked, or simply sent a positive thought into the universe - THANK YOU!

I also wanted to draw attention to the signs that have gone up recently in town - with vocal support from both families - in remembrance of the two pedestrian lives lost this year, Ms. Lavin and Ms. Li. Please remember them as you are driving through our community. ❤