TELL US: What New Housing Does Watertown Need - Houses, Town Houses, Apartments?

Watertown has a number of old industrial properties either unused or underused, and one of the likely things to be put up on these parcels is housing, but what kind should be built?

Tonight, the Watertown Planning Department, along with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) hosts a public forum on Housing Planning for Watertown at the Watertown Public Free Library. Officials will gather input from residents about what kind of housing they think the town needs.

Recently, the town has had a number of apartment and condo buildings go up, particularly on Pleasant Street where Repton Place has been built as well as two smaller buildings closer to Watertown Square. Another apartment complex was approved this summer to go on Waltham Street across from Gore Place.

Those projects met stiff resistance from neighbors. 

Types of Housing

Apartments tend not to be people's first choice, and most would rather see single-family homes, instead. 

Unfortunately, the economics often don't work out for either developers or the town when single-family homes are built. Many fewer homes can be built on the land compared to the number of apartments or condos.

Also, the town ends up paying more in services if a single family home. In March, . Therefore, single-family homes would put more pressure on the town budget than apartments.

In addition, the town needs to meet its requirement of having 10 percent of units in town be available at affordable rates and more affordable units can be added with a multi-unit development. 

What do you think? What kind of housing would you like to see put up around Watertown, and where? Share in the comment section below.