The Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) issued a White Paper on Rural Housing Issues in Massachusetts in December 2014, the result of its investigation into what rural communities need to thrive. It calls for a “targeted, coordinated and holistic” approach by the state that addresses economic development, transportation, health care, education and housing needs. It recommends creating a State Office of Rural Policy to serve as a research and policy clearinghouse. For housing, it recommends facilitating regional collaboration and modifying state funding programs to make them usable for rural water and infrastructure needs and small scale rental housing development. MHP counts 170 of the state’s 351 municipalities as rural using the 2013 Rural Access Commission’s definition of rural (areas with less than 500 residents per square mile).
