Some long for the old Stockbridge when there were paying jobs at GE and the mills and we had a middle class. The first order of business in going back to this is living-wage jobs, not houses. Houses come after jobs and transportation. Unless somebody is building a new widget factory in South County, we should steer clear of social engineering the housing market. Beware of Seasonal Unintended Consequences. The state should try not to help us so much. Instead, let us keep self-governance here. We have enough challenges to conservation already.

Zoning is a critical component in preserving the tourist economy that replaced GE and the mills. It also helps to preserve the natural beauty of the last town on the Rt 7 corridor that has tried to hang on to what makes the town an economic tourist engine that benefits the entire region. Our zoning forefathers made sure Stockbridge entrances to town were not commercialized silly-nilly, and their Green Necklace of 4 acre zoning has been saving the town from aesthetic and ecological ruin all this time.

By all means renovate, preserve, write smaller scale local policies we can manage and not be overwhelmed by. The exodus of young people from here for broader career opportunities has gone on here for at least the last 50 years. Housing is not the issue. It’s earning a living wage. It’s survival. Putting the house before the cart is not the answer. Affordable housing would be great in a balanced economy. In South County, it’s a bandwagon without the horse.