Ulster County Housing Action Plan

The Housing Action Plan starkly reveals just how hard so many in our community are struggling to make ends meet and the impacts of ever-increasing housing costs. The Plan carefully examines the data and trends that are associated with housing affordability and lays out the steps that decision-makers at all levels of government need to take if we are to meet the challenges of housing affordability.

The Plan shows how a combination of rising inequality and a failure to build the housing we need has produced an untenable situation for all but our highest-earning households. Nearly one-third of homeowners and more than half of renters in Ulster County are currently living in unaffordable homes.

The unprecedented disruption caused by the Pandemic that unleashed trends that are likely to continue threatens the housing stability of our essential teachers, nurses and firefighters, restaurant and grocery workers -- all the people who have kept us safe, fed, and well. Our seniors need to be able to age in the communities they’ve called home for decades and our young people need to be able to stay and raise their own families here.

The Plan provides a solid base for a conversation with all the stakeholders in the County – elected officials, business leaders, our healthcare, education, and environmental communities – to come together to examine how what and where to build so that we can get beyond the piecemeal, not-in-my-backyard conversations, and move to implement proactive, community-driven solutions to create the housing we need.

The Plan offers a comprehensive set of recommendations focused on five major policy initiatives:

1. Establish an Ulster County Housing Task Force
2. Establish partnerships with developers for scattered site (re)development
3. Increase the supply of supported and transitional housing
4. Create a Housing Smart Communities Initiative
5. Establish housing funds for Ulster County

The Plan shows how working together, we can provide strong incentives, guidance, and support for local communities to meet our housing needs

Final Report

• Ulster County Housing Action Plan 2021(PDF, 5MB) - Final Full Report