To the Editor:

This November we will vote on a referendum concerning housing as part of the Fairfield Hills Campus. Please consider the following before voting. The variety of housing options of a livable community support the needs and desires of young, middle-age, and older adults to remain in their communities. A broad range of options encourages individuals to settle in a town and become part of the fabric of that town.

Housing options often determine whether service workers, or more appropriately “essential workers,” can live in the town where they work. Just as housing needs change over a lifetime, shifts in both demographics and lifestyle have transformed our nation’s housing requirements. Note that 30 percent of America’s households are made up of one adult living alone. Only 20 percent of today’s households are nuclear families. By 2030, 1 in 5 people in America will be 65 or older and are projected to outnumber children by 2035. Towns like Newtown offer few options and yet Newtown is not immune to these trends, as our growing senior population shows.

More than 20 percent of Newtown households are classified as ALICE — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE households are above the poverty level but below the threshold to meet basic living expenses. Newtown’s housing stock does not fit the realities of a changing America. This is not a criticism but an observation of a need that we as informed and involved citizens must address. This as an opportunity to provide options that respond to the changing demographic and lifestyle changes discussed above.

Newtown is a great place to live and work, and we need to create housing options attuned to the wants and desires of those who currently live here, their children, grandchildren, and new citizens who will be proud to call Newtown home.

John S. Boccuzzi, Sr

57 Queen Street, Newtown October 16, 2020