ROCKLAND, MA :The South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s (www.southshorechamber.org) Housing Committee is hosting a 3 part series to dive deeper into the challenges and opportunities around housing and its critical importance to our regional economy.  The series kicks off on Tuesday, September 29^th at 2 – 3:15 pm.

This series will explore the complexities around development with a goal of better informing and engaging our business community and regional leaders  in our housing production strategies. This series is designed to inspire business leaders to get involved in the Chamber’s 2030 work to encourage more housing options that attract the next generation of workers and to think long term about the region’s economic growth.

David Glick, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty Director, MetroBridge, Initiative on Cities at Boston University will lead the first session, Participation at Public Meeting: Why it Matters & How it Impacts the Region’s Development. Boston University’s Initiative on Cities Neighborhood Defenders Project examines who attends public meetings and how that shapes development (or lack thereof) in our communities. Professor Glick will offer a presentation of public participation across the South Shore- who attends, why it matters, and how it impacts our region’s ability to be economically competitive. At the close of the meeting (or as a follow-on event) there will be a strategic conversation about how the group can make a better impact at public meetings.

On Tuesday, October 27^th from 2-3:15 pm Tom Hopper & Callie Clark, Center for Housing Data, Mass Housing Partnership (MHP) and Dr. Tracy A. Corley, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Fellow, Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, MassINC will present South Shore TODs…Are they a path to 44,000 new homes in the region by 2030? They will address whether COVID has impacted current and future transit developments,  what  our current public transit stations look like, and discuss how increasing density around our transit stops can help us get to our goal of 44,000 new homes by 2030.Speakers will also offer a discussion on opening up the definition of “TODs” and reframing how we think about connecting people and places.

The third in the series will address Water & Wastewater Capacity: The Challenge to Suburban Economic Growth. The housing initiative calls for 44,000 units of new housing in order for our economy to grow 1%. One of the most common barriers for more housing in the suburbs is water/wastewater issues. This will be  a broader discussion on challenges in suburban build-out due to current limits on infrastructure capacity.  The date has not yet been set.

The Housing Initiative work is made possible through generous funding from Rockland Trust Bank, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, Cape Cod Lumber, Sullivan Tire & Fireking Baking Company.