The New York Times: In Provincetown, Mass., a Matchmaker Helps the Desperate Find Housing
A mix of extreme conditions has made the remote Cape Cod town’s housing market one of the most harrowing in New England.
Reporter: Jenna Russell | Photo Editor: Heather Casey
Provincetown, Mass., long a summer destination for artists, gay and lesbian vacationers, and free spirits, is remote and compact, 116 miles from Boston by car.
A Stop & Shop grocery store community board advertises an available house in a neighboring town.
Employees of Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum look out at the Provincetown Marina.
There are miles of steep and sprawling sand dunes at Cape Cod National Seashore.
Provincetown has become as unattainable as it is appealing, its rental housing almost mythically elusive.
Raymon Taylor is in his third summer working on a visa in Provincetown. He lives in housing provided by his employer for the summer.
Georgi Musev, left, and Ilina Ivanova are both working in Provincetown. Mr. Musev found a house through a friend, where he sleeps in a bunk bed. Ms. Ivanova is temporarily sharing a bed with a roommate she met on her first night in town.
A clothing store in Provincetown. The local economy relies heavily on seasonal workers.
Francine Kraniotakis, left, speaking about her housing search, said, “My stress level is like a 20.” She wants to live close to her parents and the family business. Her father, George Kraniotakis, right, lives above the pizza place where they work.
Ms. Kraniotakis said her landlord gave her until June to vacate the apartment she has rented for nine years.
Ms. Kraniotakis touring a house for sale in the nearby town of Truro.
Rainbow flags hang in a building on Commercial Street.
Kristin Hatch, executive director of the Provincetown Housing Authority, said she regularly receives calls about housing emergencies.
A hallway outside several subsidized units at the Provincetown Housing Authority.
Boats in the Provincetown Marina.
The salt marshes in town.
Provincetown, which has about 3,600 year-round residents, packs in about 60,000 people at the height of summer.