Jennifer Gilbert

Does Massachusetts need a Housing Policy Action Center? It’s a question I was asked a few weeks ago. As the person tasked with launching such an effort at CHAPA, our state’s leading housing advocacy organization, I love a skeptic. Plus, it’s not simple.

I responded emphatically NO, and also YES. So why “NO”?

We are – fortunately – at a time and place where there is little need of convincing people that our state would benefit from more housing. Ample sources regularly report the needs and the gaps. As just one local, nationally recognized example, the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies recently released its 2025 State of the Nation’s Housing highlighting our country’s triple threats to housing stability: high interest rates, rising operating costs and high levels of cost burden.

Locally, we have great institutions delivering analysis. Boston Indicators regularly releases content, including the annual Greater Boston Housing Report Card. Several regional planning agencies as well as Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) issue reports and maintain interactive tools to explore our state’s housing challenges. Finally, the commonwealth itself published 50-plus recommendations for production.

As anyone who ever tried to change anything knows, the first step is convincing others that there is a problem. Let’s check off that box!

Recognizing the need for change is, however, only the first step.

Since May, I’ve talked to over 30 Massachusetts housing experts from multiple sectors –advocates, developers, funders, regulators – with another dozen local and national interviews scheduled for my summer calendar. These interviews have surfaced three areas of “yes,” where CHAPA’s new Housing Policy Action Center can add value. They are:

• Supporting the critical steps between a good idea and implementation
• Work that benefits from on-the-ground and lived experience
• Work that creates next-stage solutions

From Idea to Implementation

First, our state’s place at the forefront of research and innovation means we generate a lot of bright ideas. As one datapoint, my 30 interviews have already generated a list of 40-plus suggestions for further study!

Every solution starts with a good idea. There is equal, if not greater, value in the next steps: sharpening the focus for the problem(s) you can solve, looking outside for models that are proven solutions, considering timing and capacity, and applying the lens of experience to prioritize tactically.

There are many bright ideas that have been hanging around for some time – modular housing being a great example – where the devil seems to dwell in shifting multiple systems to move forward.

CHAPA has often been at the center of such efforts. This fall, CHAPA’s Housing Summit will be a day-long exploration of scaling smart solutions to produce the 200,000 or more homes we need, including modular housing.

Making Sure Ideas Work

Second, CHAPA has a long-standing, unique role drawing together the range of on-the-ground actors in our housing ecosystem.

Ideas like allowing single stairs and ADUs are all welcome; however, practitioners point out that obstacles abound on the ground. Balancing optimism, skepticism and the wisdom of experience is fundamental for implementation.

Ultimately, lots of people – many of them suburban homeowners – need to want an ADU on their property for it to succeed at scale. People will need to feel comfortable in apartments without a second stair.

CHAPA has a special place at the table as a conduit to lived experience which can stress-test ideas and move them forward more rapidly.

Building Coalitions for Reforms

Third, throughout its now almost 60-year history, CHAPA has been at the forefront of envisioning big yet attainable ideas that support big leaps forward. The list stretches from the original momentum for Chapter 40B to the state’s affordable housing preservation law, Chapter 40T, to the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, to the MBTA Communities Act.

CHAPA is, at its core, a convenor for joint problem solving. Fans of the eight classic steps of change management will recall that the second step is “build a guiding coalition.” CHAPA can play a unique role in working with many constituencies to generate bold ideas and put solutions in place.

Finally, there’s another reason I say yes. One of my favorite interview questions has been “Where do you like to get your housing policy information?” The answers have included everything from academic centers to podcasts to online datasets.

What’s clear is the audience for the long, annotated report is gone. Today, the most effective methods are shorter research briefs, data visualizations, interactive tools and fact- plus-analysis-centered policy co-creation. The new Center for Housing Action can be nimble and creative. It can leverage multiple formats and deliver content for a range of users. As a built-in bonus, CHAPA’s membership is a natural platform for spreading ideas.

Nothing motivates researchers like a good question. As we build the plan for CHAPA’s Housing Policy Action Center’s future, we look forward to studying many of those that align with CHAPA’s historical place at the table as an idea incubator, convenor and forum for fresh ideas.

Jennifer Gilbert is the Musicant Cohen Executive Director of the Housing Policy Action Center at Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA).