WHAT DO YOU call the opposite of a trial balloon? A deep-six signal? Whatever the term for it, it sure looks like legislative leaders are giving it some play when it comes to Boston’s home-rule petition to reestablish rent control in the city. Mayor Michelle Wu has made reining in rents a centerpiece of her […]
Housing
Posted inHousing, State Government
Westwood chided for lackluster MBTA Communities plan
THE STATE IS moving to cut Westwood off from several sources of funding – the first municipality to be penalized for submitting a zoning roadmap that doesn’t comply with the requirements of the MBTA Communities Act. Passed during the Baker administration and now championed by Gov. Maura Healey, the MBTA law tries to tackle the statewide […]
Posted inOpinion
Partnerships key to addressing student homelessness in Lawrence
AT TIMES the wheels of government move more slowly than we’d like. In the meantime, working families struggle to get by. With so many big, systemic issues to address, even meaningful incremental progress can often feel like just a finger in the dam. Sometimes, however, those seemingly small wins can offer a blueprint for big, […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Boston pitches libraries, affordable housing as perfect match
IN THREE BOSTON neighborhoods, home could soon be where the stacks are. The city is set to join a handful of other places that combine public libraries with affordable housing, a popular pairing that addresses increasingly pricey housing markets and limited land for new development. “Certainly no one would argue that housing is one of the […]
Posted inHousing, Opinion
Heading off the next foreclosure crisis
OVER THE LAST few years, Americans have faced countless challenges we couldn’t have easily predicted: a global pandemic, war in Ukraine, supply chain snarls, a roiling economy — including recent bank collapses — and skyrocketing housing costs amidst all of it. But we could have predicted what was to follow: a volatile housing market and […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Stand-alone housing secretariat moves forward
GOV. MAURA HEALEY’S plan to create a new Cabinet-level post on housing got the green light from the Senate on Thursday, bringing the administration one step closer to an adjustment it says will help address the state’s severe housing production and affordability crisis. Splitting the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development in two has […]
Posted inRace/Racism
Mel King remembered as ‘humble and generous humanist’ for justice Â
MEL KING was remembered Tuesday as a champion for justice who had a global vision of a better world that was shaped profoundly by the very local wrongs he saw people face in the South End neighborhood of Boston where he was born and lived almost all of his 94 years. Perhaps the most influential […]
Posted inHousing, Opinion, Politics, Race/Racism
Understanding Mel King’s ‘Chain of Change’
Pat Walker served as field director for Mel King’s historic 1983 campaign for mayor of Boston, when he became the first Black candidate to win a spot in the final election for mayor of the city. Walker was also editor of King’s 1981 book Chain of Change: Struggles for Black Community Development. Below is a […]
Posted inOpinion
Help us address the Cape, Islands housing crisis
MORE THAN 250 residents of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, from high school students to law enforcement to healthcare workers, marched on Beacon Hill last month because their communities, their businesses, and their way of life are all threatened by the soaring cost of housing. Wampanoag tribal members talked about the devastation of no longer being […]
Posted inOpinion
Investing in housing equity = investing in health
AS HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS and affordable housing experts, we strongly support Mayor Michelle Wu’s recently proposed Inclusionary Development Policy increases and linkage fees for lab space. Increasing funds for affordable housing will lead to improved housing equity in the city and lead to significant positive impacts on the health outcomes of individuals and the communities they […]