Eric Lund - Town Council

ERIC LUND - Town Council
31 Faculty Road

Education:  S. B., physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ph.D., physics, Dartmouth College  

Occupation:  Research Scientist

Years as Durham Resident:  23 Years

Previous Service on Governmental/Community/Civic Boards, Commissions, Committees, or Organizations.
I have served in several roles with the MIT Alumni Association: board member of the MIT Club of New Hampshire (including two years as president), class officer, reunion committee co-chair, and educational counselor (field interviewer for students, mostly from local high schools including Oyster River, applying for admission to MIT).

Reason for Interest in Running for Elected Office: 
Durham is a special community, and I am fortunate to have ended up here as my career has been in a field where one must usually go where the job is. However, times are changing, and we must find a way to adapt to these changes without losing the characteristics that make Durham special. One of our biggest challenges is housing. As a university town, Durham has many housing options for people in their early 20s (mostly but not exclusively undergraduate students), and several developments for people 55 and older have been built over the last decade or so, but we have few options for the people in between. Most people raising families are in this age range, as are most graduate students, an important part of a research university like UNH. The overwhelming majority of housing in Durham that would be attractive to such people is single family residential houses, but the recent sharp increase in real estate prices has made this option unaffordable for most younger people. As a Town Councilor I would work to improve housing options for this group, who are a key ingredient to keeping Durham a viable and vibrant town.