Mapping a regional challenge

September 6, 2019

What’s next for nextLI? Housing

nextLI’s inaugural research survey found that 36% of Long Islanders ages 18 to 34 consider housing costs to be a main dislike of the region. The lack of affordable first homes and rental units has some looking towards greener pastures in other states. More than 60% of those surveyed said they supported more variety in housing stocks on Long Island. This includes mixed-used zoning, micro apartments, multi-family zoning and accessory apartments.

nextLI is helping move the housing conversation forward with several digital features and projects this fall:

• Keep an eye out for our housing exploration tool that will help you identify the median rent in your area and compare it to neighboring towns and villages.
• Our housing map will help you locate all the rental housing units and proposed developments across Long Island. It will also include zoning hearings taking place in your communities to give you a voice in the decision-making process.

nextLI now has a housing task force to help identify the challenges with building in the area. The task force is made up of Long Islanders who are passionate about improving the way we talk and act about housing. If you’d like to join our task force or want to recommend someone who might be interested, please email us.

You can also contribute to the housing project by sharing zoning hearing dates about proposed developments in your area with nextLI@newsday.com.

We’re on Newsday’s new homepage

nextLI has a new home on newsday.com. Find our most recent data posts on the homepage by scrolling down the right rail, under Opinion and adjacent to investigations.

On our site

How to help addicted LI youth: George Basile, who is a member of Suffolk County’s Next Generation Advisory Council, writes about the need for a youth opiate advisory committee and advocates for stronger policies to help addicted youth on Long Island.

2020 Census is critical for Long Island’s future: According to the Health & Welfare Council of Long Island, Suffolk and Nassau Counties are the fourth and fifth “hardest to count” counties in New York. Twenty eight percent of Long Island’s population, about 803,000 people, live in hard to count areas.

A deeper dive into unoccupied homes on Long Island: The vacancy rate is the percentage of unoccupied units in a complex at a single point in time. See how a vacancy rate of 4.6 percent for Nassau County and 6.2 percent for Suffolk County compares to the U.S. and NYC.

Visit our website for more.

Have an experience about LI you want to share? A set of data in need of analysis? Contact nextLI@newsday.com.

Out and about

Nassau County has continued to lose young residents, according to a 2018 demographic profile by the County Comptroller. The report, which looked at ways to make the county more attractive to young people, highlights the need for transit-oriented developments, and apprenticeship programs in manufacturing for non-college-bound young people and jobs for women entrepreneurs. A panel of millennials discussed the report at Molloy College last month.

If you want nextLI to come present their survey findings to your organization, please email nextLI@newsday.com.

Upcoming events

The nextLI team will be joining Verdel Jones in Massapequa on Sept. 26 for a taping of “Conversations with Verdel Jones” to discuss our new housing project. The show will air on YouTube and we will embed on our site for you to join the conversation online.

The Rauch Foundation’s newest report, Breaking Through: How smart partnerships overcame decades of resistance to modernize America’s busiest commuter railroad, will be released at a panel event co-sponsored by Rauch, the Long Island Association and nextLI, at LIA headquarters on Sept. 27 at 9:30 a.m. The report will be available on the nextLI website.

Do you have an event, town hall meeting or conference you’d like to feature in our newsletter? Email nextLI@newsday.comto be considered for our upcoming events section.