So you like that one-bedroom in Cambridge with the half-sized oven, tilted floor, and dimly lit rooms? There aren’t a lot of other options, and it’s $100 below market rent at $2,200 a month. You’ll take it. But before you can move the IKEA couch in, you’re going to have to fork over four month’s […]
Housing
Posted inThe Download
Walsh shows interest in cutting broker fees
So you like that one-bedroom in Cambridge with the half-sized oven, tilted floor, and dimly lit rooms? There aren’t a lot of other options, and it’s $100 below market rent at $2,200 a month. You’ll take it. But before you can move the IKEA couch in, you’re going to have to fork over four month’s […]
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 inEducation
Kid-free Boston
THERE WAS A TIME when couples from the suburbs might hire a babysitter or drop their children at the grandparents in order to splurge on a weekend in Boston. Now, it’s not just Boston hotels that are the scene of such kid-free getaways; that’s increasingly the profile of those making their home across Boston’s neighborhoods. […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Rent control draws crowd to State House
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A LYNN WOMAN told lawmakers she may have to move her family after a 35 percent rent increase. A Mattapan great-grandmother said she will go to court to fight a $700 rent hike that she cannot afford on a fixed income. A Chelsea college student worries about becoming homeless. The solution, […]
Posted inOpinion
Route 128 needs land use leadership
THERE HAS BEEN A LOT of press about Greater Boston’s housing shortage and growth pains. The suburbs are over-restricting development, home prices are escalating, and traffic is still stealing family dinners and putting jobs at risk. What has garnered less attention is Greater Boston’s plan for growth — what the plan is, and what it […]
Posted inEconomy
Backers coalesce behind real estate tax bill
LAWMAKERS AND HOUSING ADVOCATES are starting to coalesce behind a new proposal that would allow municipalities the local option to assess a tax of up to 2 percent on real estate transactions above the statewide median sales price and up to 6 percent on more speculative property sales. The group of over 30 housing groups, municipal leaders, and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Walsh proposes housing investments, rental vouchers
IN HIS ANNUAL State of the City address, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced his administration plans to spend $500 million over the next five years to create more affordable housing and provide rental subsidies for low-income and homeless people. “Housing is the biggest economic challenge our residents face,” Walsh said. “We know we have been […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo: Lots of work remains on housing bill
THE HOUSING COMMITTEE advanced the governor’s housing choice bill with a nearly unanimous vote Thursday, but Speaker Robert DeLeo said that’s not a sign that agreement has been reached on the issue. Moving that bill and 19 others out of committee should put pressure on members to get to work hearing each other out and […]