Democratic candidate for governor Maura Healey promises no backsliding on a new, transit-oriented zoning reform and a PR push to encourage new housing construction.

Can a public relations campaign talking up the need for new housing, coupled with some modest incentives, convince NIMBY suburbs to change their ways? 

That’s my question after examining the housing plan Attorney General Maura Healey, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, released last week, along with her Democratic running mate, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll. 

Count me as skeptical. 

Healey’s plan to tackle the housing crisis is full of carrots to get suburbs to stop blocking new apartments. But sticks are nowhere to be found. 

Healey pledges to “fully implement” the new MBTA Communities law, which, on paper at least, requires dozens of cities, towns and suburbs to roll out the welcome mat for potentially a couple hundred thousand apartments and condos near T stations. 

All of which is good and fine but, given the law depends on communities’ good will to actually generate much new housing, how does Healey hope to achieve this? 

More than a few suburbs have been pushing back against the new law, enacted under the Baker administration to boost housing production. Elected officials in towns like Newton and Concord have talked openly of ignoring the law, while all but scoffing at the relatively mild penalties that generally amount to the loss of some minor grant money. 

Just take Henry Dane, a Select Board member in Concord, where the median home price is $1.4 million. After the Baker administration unveiled the rules of the road for the new MBTA Communities law earlier this year, Dane discussed openly whether to simply ignore the new law and risk losing some popular, but rather modest, state grants.  

“Requiring us to build 750 units of multifamily housing, we would have to lose an awful lot of state funding to make it worthwhile to do this,” Dane said. 

Yet there’s no mention of stiffer penalties in Healey’s plan. Rather, there’s talk of “creating incentives” and initiatives that would “empower” towns and cities to revamp restrictive zoning rules and open their doors to new apartment construction. 

There will be no getting tough with communities that pull out all the stops to bar new rental projects, or insist on smaller units with just one or two bedrooms to discourage families with children from moving to town. 

 Charm NIMBYs Into Submission? 

Instead, Healey wants to go on a PR offensive “with state-led pro-housing campaign to educate residents about our housing shortage and advocate for the creation of enhanced housing options.” 

In practical terms, that will mean “public advocacy, training and education” for community members and business leader alike, and technical assistance and “toolkits,” whatever that means, for local officials. 

A Healey administration would also work with communities to establish housing production goals on a local and regional level, though these would appear to be voluntary, not mandatory. 

There’s a whole bunch of other things stuffed into Healey’s blueprint for tackling the housing crisis, such more money for first-time home buyers, low-income renters and developers of affordable housing as well. 

Our governor-in-waiting’s housing plan – sorry, GOP gubernatorial candidate and Trumpy Geoff Diehl doesn’t stand a chance – also calls for a dedicated housing secretary to ride herd over state bureaucracy.  

And Healey’s team spills much digital ink talking up cuts to red tape on the state level for developers looking to build affordable housing. 

It sounds good, though it really remains to be seen how much regulatory pruning needs to be done on the state level following nearly eight years now of Gov. Charlie Baker, a business-minded, moderate Republican. 

 Cheerleading Alone Won’t Work 

The focus on slashing regulatory rigamarole on the state level also sidesteps where the real snags are at this point for developers, and that is at the local level through restrictive zoning rules and even health regulations as well. 

Healey’s plan misjudges how entrenched anti-housing attitudes are in many suburban communities, especially when it comes to rental housing and even more so when the units are affordable. 

Proposals for new apartment buildings often generate all sorts of concerns related to overtaxing school systems, clogging roads with traffic and even talk of increased crime. 

These issues have been refuted time and again by various studies, but to no avail. 

Scott Van Voorhis

It would be hard to find a local official who hasn’t heard of the need for more affordable housing. And it’s doubtful simply repeating the same arguments, even if they are presented more creatively, is going to make a significant difference. 

Cheerleading alone won’t work. If it did, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in right now with sky high rents and home prices, with Baker more outspoken about the state’s housing crisis than any other governor in recent memory. 

But Healey must have a stick or two up her sleeves after all those years and lawsuits filed as Massachusetts attorney general. 

If so, here’s hoping she has the gumption to wield them. 

Scott Van Voorhis is Banker & Tradesman’s columnist; opinions expressed are his own. He may be reached at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com.