PASSING AMBITIOUS LEGISLATION matters for obvious reasons, but so too does the rule-making process that follows a law’s passage. Final language often leaves state agencies with tremendous leeway, and real-world impact can vary widely based on administrative decisions that often get far less public scrutiny. Political scientist Leah Stokes calls this the “fog of enactment,” […]
Affordable housing
Posted inOpinion
A holiday wish list for legislative action on housing
WHEN IT COMES to Massachusetts affordable housing policy, it is easy to have a vigorous debate about whether the glass is half full or half empty – and both sides would have a strong argument to make. The half-full proponents would point to the fact that Massachusetts is one of the only states with state–funded public housing, […]
Posted inEconomy
In Hingham, a welcome to (well-heeled) black residents
IN THE END, Hingham’s gonna Hingham. And so the tony town on Boston’s South Shore finds itself facing a bit of blowback following an effort to show that it wants to be known as something other than an almost-all white, upscale enclave of privilege. It started when a local group recently formed and took on […]
Posted inUncategorized
Raising the alarm on housing
Tom O’Brien, one of the Boston-area’s leading developers, is raising the alarm about the region’s housing crisis. “One of the most important statistics that I’ve focused on in the last six months is that over the last five years we’ve created 300,000 jobs inside Route 128,” he says. “During that same period of time, we […]
Posted inThe Download
Raising the alarm on housing
Tom O’Brien, one of the Boston-area’s leading developers, is raising the alarm about the region’s housing crisis. “One of the most important statistics that I’ve focused on in the last six months is that over the last five years we’ve created 300,000 jobs inside Route 128,” he says. “During that same period of time, we […]
Posted inOpinion
Stop trashing an affordable housing option
PEOPLE ARE BAD-MOUTHING my house. Well, not my house in particular – though it could use a few upgrades, truth be told – but the model itself. After a lifetime of Massachusetts residence and decades of home ownership in the Bay State, my wife and I packed up our lives and took our fixed retirement […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time to act on housing
THE 347 FAMILIES living in the Fairlawn apartments in Mattapan have good reason to be scared. Last year, when the owner put the property on the market, city officials worked with a well-respected non-profit developer with the intent to buy the building and keep it affordable for the residents. Instead, the owner sold the building […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker renews call for housing bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER doubled down Wednesday on legislation to make it easier for cities and towns to relax zoning restrictions to facilitate the construction of new housing, casting the problem of affordability and availability of housing as one central to the state’s ability to address other vexing problems like transportation options […]
Posted inEconomy
A clash of housing visions
SEVERAL HUNDRED ADVOCATES from across the country are descending on Roxbury Community College beginning Friday for a conference committed to the idea of building more housing to relieve a crunch that is pricing people out of booming coastal cities like Boston. The YIMBYtown convention is the national ingathering of a new movement – this is […]
Posted inEconomy
A new Quincy
QUINCY MAYOR THOMAS KOCH calls the MBTA’s Red Line the “spine” of his aging city. With four stops in North Quincy, Wollaston, Quincy Center, and Quincy Adams, the T’s Red Line allows residents to move around the city and connect with Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville to the north. These transit connections have long been the […]