Oh, how I envy the south and their hospitality at times!!!!
For a comparison of Mass. neighborhoods, see: Boston's New Ivory Tower
"Affordable housing gets cool reception on Vineyard; Residents agree it's essential, but worry about land values" by Kimberly Blanton, Globe Staff | September 30, 2008
EDGARTOWN - Islanders were outraged when a wealthy summer resident clear cut land last year next to an affordable housing development so he could land his helicopter.
But another fight brewing on Martha's Vineyard is not about the excesses of the rich in their summer houses. This one pits year-round residents against one another.
On one side is Bill Bennett, a Vineyard electronics contractor, who raised $1 million to buy land on the island's southern edge to build 11 houses costing $350,000 each - about half the island's median house price - so his employees and family can afford their first homes. Opposing the project, Cozy Hearth, are its neighbors whose understanding of how badly the Vineyard needs affordable housing to retain the island's working class is as keen as their desire to protect their privacy and property values.
"I was a working guy. I know we need workers," said Geoffrey Patterson, a building contractor who said he stretched financially in 1994 to buy his property, which is adjacent to Bennett's proposed project. "I don't want 11 houses in my backyard - I don't care if it's Jay Leno."
Fights over affordable housing on the Vineyard are different from disputes in other places, where such projects can improve blighted neighborhoods. On the island, where land costs start at $500,000 an acre, opponents often object because such projects can bring down property values.
For more on their distasteful food fight, go --here--"
