Suffolk County Explores Affordable Housing Opportunities for Young Adults

A new feasibility study is in the works to explore the development of workforce housing for young professionals on Long Island. Legislator Sarah Anker and County Executive Steve Bellone came together in a press conference to announce the new study.

According to the Long Island Index, approximately 82% of Long Islanders feel young people leave Long Island due to the high cost of living.

“The bottom line is that Long Island is experiencing a brain drain,” said Legislator Anker in a statement. “We are raising smarts kids through an excellent educational system but many of our kids are not staying on Long Island because they can’t find affordable housing that meets their needs.”

For the next 180 days, the county's Department of Economic Development and Planning with work together with the State and County educational institutions to see how they could build affordable housing for new graduates and working professionals. After the deadline, the departments will have to report their findings back to Anker and Bellone.  

“Just like our seniors, who may have limited financial resources, our graduating kids also have financial limitations including limited credit history, limited work experiences and possibly high college loan debt that could be hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Anker. “Where do they go after they graduate? Currently many are moving back home with their parents, living in basement apartments, or they have left Long Island. We must do more and we are.

“In order to continue to build Suffolk's innovative economy we must create housing opportunities for our young professionals,” said County Executive Steve Bellone in a statement. “This legislation will allow the County to study the feasibility of the creation of housing opportunities on the campuses of our institutions of higher learning. I applaud Legislator Anker for introducing this legislation and look forward to the results of the study.”