Elissa Margolin is the director of the recently created Initiative for Housing Policy and Practice at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. (Courtesy photo)
For 15 years as director of Housing Action NH, Elissa Margolin was an advocate pressing for policy to accommodate the needs of those being kept out of a home’s front door.
Today, she has a new role, having made the transition to educator as director of the recently created Initiative for Housing Policy and Practice at Saint Anselm College in Manchester.
“Our role is really to advance research, education and engagement on housing development, housing affordability, and housing stability,” said Margolin.
“I came from the advocacy side,” she added. “We don’t view ourselves at all as advocates. We’re here to be that trusted research partner, that academic partner.”
New Hampshire is in the throes of a widely acknowledged housing crisis. There isn’t enough supply to meet the demand, and current pricing isn’t affordable for a lot of buyers. April data from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors shows an affordability index of 57. An affordability index of 100 means a household has just enough money to afford a home and associated expenses in a particular market.
Saint Anselm College and its Center for Ethics in Society stepped into the forefront of the housing discussion with its release in 2023 of the Zoning Atlas, a comprehensive look at how zoning throughout the state was a roadblock to needed residential development.
The college decided to expand its housing education initiative with the creation of the Office of Partnerships last year and, within it, the Initiative for Housing Policy and Practice.
“The launch of the new Office of Partnerships created a natural opportunity to grow our housing work,” said Max Latona, St. Anselm professor who was named executive director of a newly created Office of Partnerships in September 2024. Latona had served as head of the Center for Ethics in Society since its creation in 2017.
“Elissa brings not only deep expertise in housing policy but also a strong dedication to collaboration with community leaders — something we deeply value at Saint Anselm College,” said Latona.
The Zoning Atlas is one of what Margolin described as the “program pillars.”
The Atlas is currently being updated to include a new layer of information regarding water and sewer infrastructure throughout the state. Lack of that infrastructure is often seen as a barrier to residential development.
Another pillar that Margolin is introducing is a speaker series, starting on Sept. 11 with Matthew Yglesias, author of “The Rent Is Too Damn High,” described by its publisher as “a polemic on high rents and housing costs, and how these costs are hollowing out communities, thwarting economic development, and rendering personal success and fulfillment increasingly difficult to achieve.”
Margolin also noted that, as a journalist, writing for such publications as The American Prospect, The Atlantic, and Slate, Yglesias “does a lot of interesting reporting on the intersection between housing and economic health of the country, and also talks a lot about zoning barriers and the ‘Yes, In My Backyard’ movement.”
Another of the initiative’s pillars is surveying the public about housing needs. The Saint Anselm College Survey Center has been doing an annual poll to gauge New Hampshire registered voters’ views on housing policy.
“We now have years of data and can see a real trend in more favorable voter attitudes towards housing in folks’ own backyard,” said Margolin.
She finds it interesting, given her advocacy background, “because of the severity of the issue, just to have so many people really demanding policy and resource solutions dedicated to housing.”
Another pillar of the initiative is hosting an annual housing forum in December, as well as an event that will review housing-related initiatives in the current session of the New Hampshire Legislature.
It’s not unusual for a college or university to devote its resources to a social issue, such as health care or even housing. Harvard, for example, has a Joint Center for Housing Studies. “In the housing space, you do have academic partners around the country stepping into this space,” said Margolin.
Housing Action NH, which Margolin directed for many years, is a coalition of various organizations, including housing developers, financiers, property managers and service providers that advocates for policies that support the preservation and creation of affordable housing, including rental subsidies and homelessness services.
Margolin, a lawyer with a law degree from American University, will also teach a masters level course at Saint Anselm on housing policy and practice. Margolin is also a musician, a singer/songwriter, now a cellist with the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Initiative she now heads has an advisory committee that includes the following individuals:
- Ben Amsden, NH Charitable Foundation
- Abby Bronson, NH Community Loan Fund
- Dean Christon, Office of Partnerships Board
- Rob Dapice, NH Housing
- Katy Easterly Martey, NH Community Development Finance Authority
- Natch Greyes, Business & Industry Association of NH
- Preston Hunter, Eckman Construction
- Max Latona, Office of Partnerships
- Heather McCann, NH Housing
- Michael Padmore, AARP NH
- Bob Quinn, New Hampshire Realtors
- Michael Skelton, Business & Industry Association of NH
- Nick Taylor, Housing Action NH
- Robert Tourigny, NeighborWorks Southern NH
