Editor’s note: We’ve asked all 12 candidates for mayor of Boston various questions about housing and development. We’ll be running their answers to various questions over the next several weeks. The following candidates have not responded to our questions: John F. Barros, Charles L. Clemons Jr., Rob Consalvo, Martin J. Walsh, David James Wyatt and Charles Yancey.
This week’s question: A lot of the new residential development being permitted in the city these days are luxury units (even with details of Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s recently released plan for creating more affordable housing in the city). How will you encourage more affordable development in Boston?
Felix Arroyo
Everyone deserves a place to live and I am deeply committed to providing affordable housing opportunities to all of Boston’s residents. I believe we can do that by raising the cash-out payments for developers who do not provide affordable on-site units and would like to work with community members to determine an appropriate percentage of required affordable units.
Dan Conley
The market needs no help or prodding filling the demand for luxury units. Between Linkage and other state and federal resources, and strong advocacy networks, Boston is also usually well positioned to create new affordable housing, which is important and I support. The real challenge is creating housing that is suitable for and affordable to middle class families. I have a plan to help create more middle class housing by, among other things, helping to upgrade our current housing stock so it’s affordable for middle class homebuyers, create micro-units as a source of workforce housing, push developers to build more two and three bedroom dwellings, and make city-owned lots available for development at little to no cost to reduce the land-price of construction.
John R. Connolly
We need a housing plan that will prioritize a holistic approach aimed at increasing affordable housing and middle market housing in Boston. We need to give young artists, young professionals, and young families a path from rental to ownership and from one-bedroom to two- to three-bedroom units. This requires a development, zoning and permitting process that is driven from a thoughtful plan, a transparent process, and a customer friendly, efficient city government. We also need to tap available city, state, federal, and private resources, including Boston’s linkage and inclusionary development programs, and we need to speak out about the negative effects that federal housing cuts have on families and advocate for restored funding.
Charlotte Golar Richie
Boston’s Inclusionary Development Policy, that requires developers to provide affordable housing equal to 15 percent of the market units in their project, was developed and implemented during my tenure as chief of housing and director of the Department of Neighborhood Development. Prior to this, there had been no policy. In my view, it has been a valuable tool for creating affordable housing options for many of Boston’s residents. As mayor, I would increase the percentage of units required to be affordable on new construction where certain conditions exist, such as the development of public land and/or public funding is sought. The cash-out payment for developers who do not provide on-site units rises with CPI and I would reassess if current rates reflect the true costs of constructing affordable units.
Mike Ross
If affordable housing is going to be a priority, it can’t be the first thing we negotiate away in new developments. We need to stay committed to developing on-site affordable housing development. 80 percent market, 20 percent affordable is a ratio that works in most cities, we need to do more of that here. I think we need to move affordable housing out of the BRA, and into the department of neighborhood development, so that it can remain a priority.
Bill Walczak
The first step is to create neighborhood master plans that identify land that could be best used as housing because of the particular attributes unique to each location. There is no "one size fits all" approach and each location will have target income levels, height and density ranges, mixed use options and neighborhood considerations. The key point is that careful, professional, transparent and public planning processes will be the foundation of the city’s housing programs. I would also work closely with city institutions, non-profit developers and for-profit developers to encourage and support their housing projects that are consistent with the neighborhood master plans. Additionally, I will work with state government and other Greater Boston municipalities to encourage a regional push for housing, particularly housing near public transportation. More housing in Greater Boston will help lower the costs of housing in Boston.
