Community Action Starts Here

We're being told we must accept dense development on Cape Cod or living here will be unaffordable. That's just plain wrong. We have choices.

The first choice is whether we treat the housing crisis in Cape Cod as a numbers problem or a market problem. Cape Cod is not short on buildings; we are short on housing that working people can actually afford.

The second choice is whether we respect local capacity or ignore it. Cape towns operate on thin margins. Water systems, wastewater treatment, roads, schools, and emergency services are already strained. Large, state-driven housing projects shift long-term costs onto municipalities least able to absorb them.

The third choice is whether we protect our water on Cape Cod or gamble with it. Cape Cod has a single-source aquifer, and once compromised, it is gone. Housing that overwhelms wastewater systems or pushes development into sensitive areas is not progress; it is permanent damage.

The fourth choice is whether we talk honestly about wages. A Cape where jobs pay $20 an hour and homes cost $700,000 is not broken because of zoning alone. Until wages rise, housing production will chase an ever-moving target.

Finally, we must decide what kind of place Cape Cod is going to be. A high-density extension of the metropolitan housing market? Or a region with limits—ecological, fiscal, and human—that deserve respect?

Those are real choices.