Editor’s note: We’ve asked all 12 candidates for mayor of Boston various questions about housing and development. This is the final week of questions for these candidates. The following candidates have not responded to this question: John F. Barros, Charles L. Clemons Jr., Rob Consalvo, Mike Ross, Martin J. Walsh, David James Wyatt and Charles Yancey. The preliminary election is scheduled for Sept. 24.
This week’s question: Boston Mayor Tom Menino has said he wants to build 30,000 housing units by 2020. Where should those units go? What neighborhoods need more commercial and/or residential development?
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
Boston is a city without a lot of buildable land, so we need to find appropriate opportunities to increase housing that respects the fabric of surrounding communities. We need to make a priority of transit-oriented development that includes housing, retail, and commercial space, so that housing is accessible to stores, jobs and educational opportunities. When it comes to business investment, we can’t limit innovation to a district. We need to support small businesses in every neighborhood by doing things like helping them to become suppliers to large businesses and institutions.
Charlotte Golar Richie
There are still neighborhoods underserved relative to commercial/retail services and there are other neighborhoods that could support new housing development. Every neighborhood in Boston has its own unique characteristics and any practical plan must consider which neighborhoods present the best opportunities for future high-impact development and which neighborhood are more appropriate for low-impact development. As previously mentioned, I am committed to developing a long-term strategic plan for future development in Boston, one that looks at multiple factors to determine which neighborhoods present the best opportunities.
Bill Walczak
As I’ve stated in earlier answers, there has to be multiple planning efforts completed before these questions can be answered. The answers must be driven by city and neighborhood needs and not the interests of developers. I would add that I do support mixed-use development that contains residential, office, commercial and retail in proximity to each other. Strong and vibrant neighborhoods have a mix of development uses.
