WE ALL KNOW that New Bedford is facing a housing crisis that involves not only rising rents and home prices, but a severe shortage in housing options across all income […]
Housing
Posted inOpinion
We want a 5% cap on rent increases
IN A HISTORIC win for Boston’s housing justice movement and working-class families, the Boston City Council recently voted 11-2, in favor of rent stabilization! Now the power is in the […]
Posted inOpinion
What Gateway Cities need is more market-rate housing
SIXTEEN GATEWAY CITY mayors and managers recently penned an opinion piece in The Boston Globe urging the Legislature to scale up the successful Housing Development Incentive Program, a tool designed […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Campbell warns municipalities MBTA zoning law not optional
MASSACHUSSETTS ATTORNEY General Andrea Campbell is wading into the MBTA communities dust-up, releasing an advisory Wednesday morning emphasizing that participating in the transit-oriented housing policy is not optional and raising the prospect […]
Posted inEconomy
Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse could impact Mass. affordable housing
SILICON VALLEY BANK’S sudden collapse is sending shockwaves far beyond the tech sector, leaving Massachusetts affordable housing organizations particularly panicky. It’s been less than two years since the California-based bank […]
Posted inHousing, Politics
Wu wins two victories at Boston City Council
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL gave its seal of approval Wednesday to Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent control plan and her pitch to reshuffle the city’s development agency, twin victories for the […]
Posted inOpinion
We don’t just need housing, we need affordable housing
WHILE ECONOMIC RECOVERY takes hold across many Massachusetts communities, residents of the city of Chelsea, the epicenter of the pandemic in the state, continue to experience acute housing and economic […]
Posted inOpinion
Healey should settle, not litigate, disability lawsuit
EVERY DAY, thousands of Massachusetts residents with disabilities are admitted to segregated nursing facilities, be it to recover from medical procedures, to receive respite and care because they’re homeless, or […]
Posted inThe Download
Lawsuit alleges racial discrimination in tenant screening tool
Two Black women from Massachusetts are at the center of what could become a landmark federal case about whether software that screens potential tenants is illegally biased against Black and […]
Posted inCourts, Housing
Lawsuit alleges racial discrimination in tenant screening tool
TWO BLACK WOMEN from Massachusetts are at the center of what could become a landmark federal case about whether software that screens potential tenants is illegally biased against Black and […]
Posted inOpinion
Overcoming the restrictions on multi-family housing
Last in a series. CITIES AND TOWNS of Greater Boston have a long history of using zoning to restrict development of multi-family housing that might accommodate families with children. The systematic restrictions […]
Posted inOpinion
Where should new multi-family housing go?
WHERE SHOULD new multifamily housing go? This is a fundamental question facing 175 communities across eastern Massachusetts as they work to implement a new law intended to address the region’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Seeking predictable permitting for new housing
Third in a five-part series. IF YOU LIVE in an affluent suburb of Boston, your municipality is probably not using as-of-right zoning to permit construction of apartments or condos. If […]
Posted inOpinion
Solving the MBTA Communities zoning puzzle
IN 2021, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts adopted the MBTA Communities zoning law requiring municipalities served by the MBTA to zone districts “of reasonable size” for multi-family housing at a “gross density” of […]
Posted inOpinion
Fight racism, pause development on public land in Roxbury
CITY OFFICIALS deliberately designed Boston to separate the Black community and prevent it from taking advantage of the economic success Boston has seen. Nowhere is this more more evident than […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t try to flout the Housing Choice law
MASSACHUSETTS HAS a residential segregation problem. The issue is particularly pronounced in Greater Boston, where communities of color are tightly packed into environmentally hazardous areas and the racial home ownership gap continues to widen. Entrenched segregation cannot be […]
Posted inThe Download
Mass. housing market cooling off, leveling out
Remember the days of crazy bidding wars and waived inspections, with homebuyers desperate to close a sale? It’s looking like those days are over, with a rapidly cooling Massachusetts housing […]
Posted inHousing
Mass. housing market cooling off, leveling out
REMEMBER THE DAYS of crazy bidding wars and waived inspections, with homebuyers desperate to close a sale? It’s looking like those days are over, with a rapidly cooling Massachusetts housing […]
Posted inThe Download
Suburbs stymie new housing growth
A new report by the Boston Foundation confirmed what Boston area residents already know: There’s not enough housing in Greater Boston, and the housing is too expensive. Luc Schuster, executive […]
Posted inHousing
Suburbs stymie new housing growth
A new report by the Boston Foundation confirmed what Boston area residents already know: There’s not enough housing in Greater Boston, and the housing is too expensive. Luc Schuster, executive […]
Posted inHousing, State House News Service
Wu appeals to state for help at Mass and Cass
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ABOUT HALF of the people camped in a stretch of Boston known as “Mass. and Cass” most recently resided in another city or town, underlining the […]
Posted inThe Download
Report: Massachusetts needs another 108,000 homes
Massachusetts needs another 108,000 housing units to meet the demand, according to a new national study, which ranks Massachusetts 11th among states in its housing underproduction. Up for Growth, a […]
Posted inHousing
Report: Massachusetts needs another 108,000 homes
MASSACHUSETTS NEEDS another 108,000 housing units to meet the demand, according to a new national study, which ranks Massachusetts 11th among states in its housing underproduction. Up for Growth, a […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t pit housing crisis against climate crisis
TODAY IN MASSACHUSETTS, both the Baker administration and the Legislature – and some individual communities, too – are working on proposed “net zero” policies to address the climate crisis. Dramatic […]