Long Island housing is bigger than houses vs. apartments

In the debate over housing on Long Island, the focus is often what types of housing to build. But there is another question we should be asking: Who are we building housing for?

A recent Newsday/Siena poll told us something important about Long Island: People strongly support the idea of more affordable single-family homes, while opinions are more divided about affordable apartments. That is worth attention.

In the poll of 411 likely Long Island voters, 63% said county officials should do more to encourage affordable single-family housing. When it came to apartments, 42% said counties should do more, 32% said less and 16% said counties were doing the right amount. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.7 percentage points.

For me there is a bigger question: Are we talking about the type of housing people would prefer to live in, or the type of housing people actually need? Those can be very different things.

Take adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities provides rental assistance and other support to help people live independently in a variety of settings. They are Long Islanders who need housing too.

The same is true for seniors. Some want to stay in the homes where they raised their families. Others may want a smaller apartment, condominium or accessible home that requires less maintenance. When an older homeowner downsizes, that can also open up a single-family home for another family.

The same goes for veterans. Census estimates show that more than 48,000 veterans live in Suffolk County and more than 32,000 live in Nassau County. Some own. Some rent. Some live alone. Some need accessible housing or additional support.

And then there are the people who keep Long Island running every day: home health aides, direct support professionals, school bus drivers, restaurant workers, nursing assistants, farmworkers on the East End.

Housing costs illustrate the challenge. Median gross rent is about $2,252 per month in Nassau and $2,255 in Suffolk. Median monthly housing costs for homeowners with mortgages are approximately $3,795 and $3,320, respectively. Notably, census data show that about 82% of occupied housing units on Long Island are owner-occupied.

It is understandable that residents have concerns about new development. Traffic matters. Wastewater capacity matters. Schools, fire protection, infrastructure and the character of our communities matter. People who raise those concerns should be part of the conversation.

Yet Long Island's housing conversation cannot stop at choosing between apartment buildings and single-family homes. People have different incomes, family situations, abilities and needs. What works for one household may not work for another.

Housing instability does not check someone's voter registration before knocking on the door. The struggling renter may be a Republican, Democrat or independent. A senior thinking about downsizing, a veteran living alone, a twentysomething or thirtysomething trying to move out of their childhood home, or a parent thinking about the future of an adult child with a developmental disability may all need different types of housing. None of them is any less a part of the Long Island community.

The real housing question is not: Would you rather have a house or an apartment?

It is: Do we want Long Island to remain a place where people of different ages, incomes and abilities can still belong?

This guest essay reflects the views of Pilar Moya-Mancera, the executive director of Housing Help Inc., a housing counseling agency serving Long Island.