Report Details Multi-Family Housing Gap on Long Island

"Regional Plan Association, HR&A Advisors Inc., and the Rauch Foundation released new research this week highlighting the high demand for multifamily housing on Long Island," according to a post on the Regional Plan Association website.

"The report, funded by the Rauch Foundation as part of the Long Island Index, uses RPA’s regional population projections to estimate future housing demand on Long Island, and suggests possible strategies for creating an adequate supply of new housing"

The report concludes that cities and counties on Long Island have been building fewer multi-family residential units than required by a growing population. Even taking into account a recent increase in the number of multi-family units constructed, the pace of construction will only meet 40 percent of the anticipated need by 2030. The report also found that much of the recent building that has been completed doesn't meet the changing preference of Americans toward housing in preferable, mixed-use communities. "RPA estimates that the population of 25 to 44 year olds in Long Island could increase by 17% in the next 15 years, an age group that prefers areas with amenities, walkability and character," according to the post.

The report includes recommendations for zoning and planning policy that could enable more of the kinds of housing it predict the region will need in the future.