to view the Affordable Housing Plan - Town of North Andover

III.
HOUSING NEEDS ASSESSMENT
North Andover, like all of the communities in Massachusetts, has a responsibility to plan and
provide for affordable housing. With the ever-increasing cost of housing ownership and rental
units, the challenge of sustainable growth management and servicing the unique needs of different
demographic groups, committing to, creating and maintaining affordable housing is a major task to
undertake in North Andover. There are benefits to addressing this issue that include the town
having more control over the type, location and size of new housing and more control during times
when it is faced with developer driven housing projects. Another benefit of proactively planning for
housing and then implementing the action items identified in this plan is that the demographic
groups who most need relief from skyrocketing housing costs are being assisted so that they can stay
in North Andover and have a choice of what type of housing unit is the most appropriate for their
lifestyle. North Andover must decide how to best manage demographic and land use changes and
continue to plan for additional growth and housing in the future.
III A - LAND USE
The Town of North Andover is located twenty-four miles north of Boston in northeastern
Massachusetts. It is bounded by Andover and Lawrence to the west, Methuen and Haverhill to the
north, Boxford to the east and Middleton and North Reading to the south.
Traditionally, North Andover is known by its six identifiable neighborhoods that include:
Downtown:
Machine Shop
Village:
The commercial center of North Andover, including Sutton Street and the
Thomson School area.
An area near the downtown composed of old mill-worker housing, the mills,
some commercial businesses and older single family, and two-family homes
within Water Street, Elm Street and Main Street boundaries.
The Library Area: A stable residential area near the Library composed of small, older, singlefamily
homes.
The Old Center:
The Lake:
Outcountry:
The residential and small commercial area around the Common.
The residential area around Lake Cochichewick where homes are on large
1 and 2 acre lots.
The residential part of town towards the South, on 1 acre lots.
Between 1970 and 1999, agricultural and forest land acreage declined significantly while the amount
of overall acreage used for residential purposes rose by nearly 100%. 1 North Andover’s land use
1 According to MassGIS data, in 1970, approximately 14.6% of land use acreage was for residential purposes.
According to the 1999 data, approximately 28% of land use acreage was multifamily residential, moderate-density
residential or low-density residential purposes.
North Andover Affordable Housing Plan
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