Kamala Harris’s plan for tackling the nation’s housing crisis could help, say experts, but only if it strikes the right balance of incentives to increase both housing demand and supply.
Affordable housing
Posted inState Government
Much ado about the multibillion dollar housing bond bill
Major bond bills set the widest parameters for possible spending. But there’s little to no chance that $6 billion in bonding power actually gets pointed at the housing crisis.
Posted inHousing
House Democrats outline $6.2 billion housing plan
With sky-high sale prices and rents suffocating residents, the House will try to shift the tide by pumping more money into existing housing programs and rolling out a few new strategies.
Posted inHousing
Taking aim at barriers for underrepresented developers
Rather than waiting for underrepresented groups to become eligible for traditional housing funding sources, a new fund is “just doing away with this chicken and egg thing.”
Posted inOpinion
Getting the details right on transit oriented development law
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,” […]
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 […]