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, […]
Housing
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 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 […]
Posted inHousing
He’s been living outside in a tent the last three years
MANY RESIDENTS of Greenfield know Greenfield River Park as the local dog park. Others play softball or pickleball there. Some, like Batch, call it home. His small blue and orange tent is tucked in the woods so close to third base he has collected a bucket full of errant balls that have landed in his […]
Posted inOpinion
HDIP addresses need for market-rate housing
WE ALL KNOW that New Bedford is facing a housing crisis that involves not only rising rents and home prices, but a severe shortage in housing options across all income levels. This housing production problem rests largely on the fact that construction costs in New Bedford rival Boston, but the rents that can be charged […]
Posted inOpinion
We want a 5% cap on rent increases
IN A HISTORIC win for Boston’s housing justice movement and working-class families, the Boston City Council recently voted 11-2, in favor of rent stabilization! Now the power is in the hands of Beacon Hill legislators to lift the statewide ban on rent control and bring stronger tenant protections to Massachusetts. Thirty years ago, the big-profit […]
Posted inOpinion
What Gateway Cities need is more market-rate housing
SIXTEEN GATEWAY CITY mayors and managers recently penned an opinion piece in The Boston Globe urging the Legislature to scale up the successful Housing Development Incentive Program, a tool designed to build more workforce housing in small cities across the state. MassINC estimates that doing so can create up to 12,500 units of housing, bringing […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Campbell warns municipalities MBTA zoning law not optional
MASSACHUSSETTS ATTORNEY General Andrea Campbell is wading into the MBTA communities dust-up, releasing an advisory Wednesday morning emphasizing that participating in the transit-oriented housing policy is not optional and raising the prospect of legal and financial consequences for cities or towns that decide to buck the policy. “Compliance with the MBTA Communities Zoning Law is not only […]
Posted inEconomy
Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse could impact Mass. affordable housing
SILICON VALLEY BANK’S sudden collapse is sending shockwaves far beyond the tech sector, leaving Massachusetts affordable housing organizations particularly panicky. It’s been less than two years since the California-based bank purchased Boston Private Bank and Trust, which for decades financed affordable housing and supported mortgage programs in the state. Now, affordable housing and community development […]