LAST SUMMER, a traffic snarl on the Massachusetts Turnpike sent me south to Route 20. Driving west, I found myself in a desolate landscape more akin to deindustrialized Ohio than prosperous eastern Massachusetts. It threw me back to the late 1970s, when Boston contained 20,000 vacant house lots and 140,000 fewer residents than today. I […]
Housing
Posted inOpinion
With climate changing, get educated about flood insurance
IT’S CLEAR THE CLIMATE is changing. According to FEMA, the U.S. has experienced more severe flooding in the last decade (18 severe floods during 2010-2019) than during the prior three combined (15 severe floods during 1980-2009). Whether related to hurricanes, extreme rainfall, snowmelt, mudflows or other events, floods cause billions of dollars in losses nationwide […]
Posted inUncategorized
Wind down of housing assistance raises concerns
AS A FEDERAL rental assistance program winds down, housing advocates are looking to the state to help fill the gap. But the state assistance programs are not as generous as the federal program was, leading to concerns that struggling tenants – particularly tenants of color – could increasingly face evictions. Housing assistance will be up […]
Posted inOpinion
Why the MBTA is key — to easing the housing crunch
MASSACHUSETTS IS EXPERIENCING a severe housing crisis. Talk to anyone who has tried to purchase a home in the past few years or tried to find an affordable apartment and you will hear the frustration of people who are just trying to find a place to live. The average price of a home in the […]
Posted inOpinion
Why a real estate transfer tax is a bad idea
ONE POLICY that has recently garnered attention on Beacon Hill is the real estate transfer fee: a de facto new sales tax on real estate. The idea would be to grant each of the 351 communities across Massachusetts new power to impose a sales tax on the sale or transfer of real estate to pay […]
Posted inOpinion
Our shelter system in Mass. is falling short
FOR THE OVER 8,000 men and women who will experience homelessness in Massachusetts this year, another winter amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could be life threatening. For the organizations and staff trying relentlessly to provide them with adequate support, services, and housing – another COVID winter is daunting. Look no further than the tent communities […]
Posted inOpinion
Huge upside to new MBTA upzoning guidelines
IN THE 2021 Greater Boston Housing Report Card, the Boston Foundation highlighted how the pandemic has amplified what was already one of Greater Boston’s most pressing needs – adequate housing supply in smart, sustainable, transit-accessible locations. Even before the pandemic, construction failed to keep pace with affordable housing goals set just a few years earlier. As post-pandemic […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mass General Brigham backs real estate transfer fee
MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM, the state’s largest private employer, on Wednesday urged passage of legislation that would allow Massachusetts communities to assess fees on higher-end real estate transactions to support the construction of more housing. “Health and housing are inextricably linked, and research has demonstrated the connection between housing stability and health outcomes,” said Elsie Taveras, […]
Posted inOpinion
On housing, Wu should look to Somerville
FOR OVER TWO DECADES, solving Boston’s housing crisis has been the Holy Grail for its city’s mayors. For newly elected Michelle Wu, who has recently announced plans to study how to make housing more affordable, she might want to look two miles to the north to the city of Somerville for inspiration. The term “housing crisis” first […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mass. to start trimming back housing assistance in Jan.
MASSACHUSETTS WILL MAKE several changes to its housing assistance program next year that will limit who can get assistance, how much, and for how long. The changes are meant to preserve the program’s funding so it will last for longer and help more families – but housing advocates worry that it will cut off vulnerable […]