Don’t Give Up on the T
A sobering report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation shows the T won’t be fixed, much less back to normal, any time soon. But that’s no reason to give up on it.
Leadership Lacking from T Board
The T is in crisis, and if the current board isn’t going to cooperatively push T leadership and serve as one of the public’s primary windows into the agency, new members must be found who will.
Spring Market to Open on a Confusing Note
Housing forecasters sure picked a great time to stop drinking. Markets around the country are headed into confusing territory just as the spring homebuying season is about to get underway.
Rubber Meets Road in Sullivan Square
It’s hard not to see the proposed One Mystic residential tower in Boston’s Sullivan Square as a test case for whether the Wu administration can follow through on its housing production rhetoric.
Modest Investments Can Jump-Start Housing
If Gov. Maura Healey wants to make the most of landmark zoning reforms and the grand project to transform the MBTA commuter rail system, an infusion of HDIP housing production funds is needed.
Healey Must Empower New Transit Vision
If we don’t move now, the world will move on without us, and not in ways that get us where we need to go. Just look at Burlington for a concrete example.
MBTA Communities Isn’t Optional, and Suburbs Know It
But the threat of legal action shouldn’t motivate towns and cities to do their part in fixing the housing crisis. There are far better reasons to rezone for more multifamily housing.
Cannabis Reform Should Be Bipartisan Priority
A Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives doesn’t have to – and shouldn’t – be an obstacle to ending harmful laws that hobble legitimate marijuana businesses in Massachusetts, and the banks and credit unions that serve them.
Wu’s Speech Raises Many Questions
Some ideas Mayor Michelle Wu pitched in her State of the City speech could help make up for planned hikes in development fees. But her proposals will take time to implement, something Boston doesn’t have. It’s time the mayor invites industry into the affordability conversation to help find immediate solutions.
Cautious Optimism for the Spring Market
If the key to getting this market unstuck is convincing more sellers that they can confidently list their homes without fear of being unable to find a new place to buy, this spring could be a good place to start.
Transit Expansions, Dense Housing Are Good Climate Policy
The good news is that we already have the tools at hand to address climate change and ever-present traffic problems – and some are relatively inexpensive.
Healey Steps Easily into Baker’s Shoes
From the laudable words in her inauguration speech last week, it seems like Gov. Maura Healey wants to surpass former Gov. Charlie Baker as our most pro-housing leader of the 21st century – no mean feat.
Don’t Ditch Downtown Offices
Soon-to-be-Gov. Maura Healey should take a hard look at her predecessor’s plans to dramatically downsize the state’s office footprint in downtown Boston just when the neighborhood is sailing into stormy seas.
Michelle Wu’s High-Wire Act
Will Boston’s mayor kill the city’s golden goose? That’s the question on the lips of many in the development community as Michelle Wu lays out her proposals to increase development fees and affordable housing requirements.
Mixed Signals for Housing in ’23
Will next year see a collapse in American home prices, or a modest uptick? Will sales crater or hold firm? This year, professional forecasts are all over the place.
Legalized ADUs Can Help Aid Homeownership
Housing markets everywhere are in a tough way. Prices and interest rates are so high that most first-time buyers don’t have a prayer. But this coming year, state legislators could put a potentially powerful tool in buyers’ hands.
Next MBTA Leader Needs a Vision
What does Governor-elect Maura Healey want the MBTA’s next leader to be? It’s a fraught decision that will have significant implications for Massachusetts’ ability to combat climate change and its high housing costs.
Bravo for Cambridge Councilors
Cambridge is a poster child for rich, anti-housing cities region-wide. But a quartet of city councilors there are trying to challenge that orthodoxy in a dramatic way.
A Reminder ‘Buyer Beware’ Is Rarely Sufficient
Last week’s spectacular collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX will likely go down in history as a classic example of why we need diligent and active consumer regulators.
Don’t Waste Question 1 Funds
An old tale holds a parable for Massachusetts’ political leaders as they gaze on a new bounty of tax receipts thanks to the success of Question 1. It’s time to be highly strategic about how we use this money and prove the hit to our competitiveness is worth it.
