HARVARD UNIVERSITY selected Tishman Speyer and celebrated architect Jeanne Gang to develop and design the initial 14 acres of an enterprise research campus along Western Avenue across from the business school. The highly anticipated selection means Harvard’s plan to build a brand new neighborhood in Allston will take a major step forward. Still, between negotiating […]
Housing
Posted inOpinion
Give accessory apartments a shot
FOR DECADES, housing experts and planners have been advocating for cities and towns to allow for the owners of single family houses to add accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to their properties. The recommendation has been listed in most master plans and housing plans, going back decades. Yet only 37 out of 100 cities and towns […]
Posted inUncategorized
Boston approves fee on real estate transactions
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL on Wednesday approved a fee of up to 2 percent on real estate transactions greater than $2 million, a measure that is expected to raise $168 million a year for affordable housing production. The new transfer fee, an attempt to capitalize on Boston’s hot real estate market, is expected to be […]
Posted inUncategorized
Herb Chambers LLC pays $18m for One Dalton condo
A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY with ties to car dealership czar Herb Chambers purchased a 5,453-square-foot condominium on the 59th floor of One Dalton Place for nearly $18 million, the latest bold face name connected to the explosion of ultra high-end residential towers in Boston. One Dalton, a 61-floor hotel and condo tower located in the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Resistance to housing a never-ending saga
HERE’S A QUESTION — and an answer — from a deep-dive look at one of the most vexing challenges facing Massachusetts. “Why can’t an average family in Massachusetts afford an average home in the suburbs anymore? The answer, at least in part: The suburbs don’t want them.” There are all sorts of reasons why forces […]
Posted inThe Download
Resistance to housing a never-ending saga
Here’s a question — and an answer — from a deep-dive look at one of the most vexing challenges facing Massachusetts. “Why can’t an average family in Massachusetts afford an average home in the suburbs anymore? The answer, at least in part: The suburbs don’t want them.” There are all sorts of reasons why forces […]
Posted inTransportation
Moving on from car-as-king development
THE DESIGN DILEMMA for America’s current generation of city builders is what to do about cars, and in particular parking. Our most beloved places were built before cars became the common person’s primary means for autonomy and travel. Yet reversion to car-free design, which makes sense to reduce auto emissions and combat climate change, is […]
Posted inOpinion
Housing crisis 1 and 2
GREATER BOSTON’S affordable housing crisis is front-page news these days, and a frequent topic of conversation in housing circles. But the reference to a single housing crisis is off-base; we have two. The first crisis is a consequence of the fact that we don’t treat housing as a human right in this country. For low-income […]
Posted inOpinion
Where should new housing go?
GREATER BOSTON has added hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and not nearly enough housing. Where should new housing go to accommodate so many people? To understand our region’s current answer, I have pored over local zoning codes, housing plans, and permitting data in 100 cities and towns of Greater Boston, not including the city of […]
Posted inOpinion
Building connectedness with star power
FOR A COUPLE OF DECADES, planners, environmentalists, and housing advocates have been singing the praises of transit oriented development (TOD) because mixed-use development by public transportation is good for the climate, commutes, the economy, quality of life, and human sociability. The people of Greater Boston have heard the chorus, and responded. In the last two […]