Faced with a Housing Crunch, Cape Cod Makes Move to ‘Do Something’
Prices are ballooning, unit construction is stagnating, populations are declining and a housing crisis deserves to be treated as such, Barnstable County’s legislature said last week.
Will Our Housing Market Find the ‘Missing Middle’ Before It’s Too Late?
Encouraging and supporting development in this area of the market may be the key that unlocks the inventory problem that plagues Massachusetts.
Auchincloss Floats 40B Reform to Fix Housing Crunch
The state will have to take “more muscular action” to facilitate construction of hundreds of thousands of new housing units in the next decade to meet demand, according to Newton Congressman Jake Auchincloss.
Two Big Ideas Could Make Chapter 40B Even Better
A Healey administration commission has floated two ways to the state’s most successful housing production law to date even more successful and extend its lifespan.
Legalizing Two- and Four-Family Homes: A Powerful Housing Fix
One of the most transformative yet under-discussed solutions to our housing problems would empower smaller developers to create housing at scale, and at a size most communities would welcome.
Serious Flaws Mean Healey’s Housing Plan Vastly Underestimates Our Needs
Gov. Maura Healey’s new housing plan sets a 222,000-home goal. But what sounds ambitious is really an implicit endorsement of the status quo.
Kraft’s Mayoral Launch Video Zeros in on Housing Production
With Mayor Michelle Wu planning to seek reelection, Josh Kraft, who has been weighing a run and has already set up a campaign account, will hold an 11 a.m. event Tuesday in Dorchester to declare his candidacy.
Triple-Deckers and Affordability Don’t Mix
Triple-decker construction may have a place in spurring housing production, but recent experiments in Boston and Somerville indicate only market-rate projects are financially feasible.
Boston’s Next Push on Beacon Hill May Center on Broker Fees
Another housing-related showdown between the city of Boston and the state Legislature is poised to unfold next year if city councilors embrace a push to shield renters from paying broker’s fees.
Cambridge City Councilors Seek Way to Ban Apartment Broker Fees
Cambridge politicians are the first out of the gate in trying to follow their New York City peers’ lead in banning apartment broker fees. The catch: They’re not quite sure if they can do it.
Lower Fed Rates Haven’t Opened the Housing Floodgates
Developers pulled building permits for just 82 new Boston units in the last two months, the worst fall showing in nearly a decade. The cost of city policies is partly to blame.
Poll: Voters Favor Housing Ideas That Failed On Hill
Massachusetts residents think housing is the most important issue at the state level, and large majorities support policy reforms that lawmakers for years have not embraced, a new poll found.
We Must Rebrand Housing as a Benefit, Not a Burden
I’m often asked by area business owners and residents, “What can we do to support solutions to our housing issues in our own communities?” The answer sometimes surprises people in its simplicity.
Progressive Leader Misses the Mark with Housing Plan
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rose to national prominence with her Green New Deal. Now, she’s turning her attention to the nation’s housing crisis with similar fanciful thinking.
Mass. Doesn’t Need a Hammer to Get More Housing Production
What if we could solve the affordable housing problem of Massachusetts towns with a few strokes of a (free) lawyer’s pen? A pro-business legal group has a new idea and an offer that Bay State local governments cannot refuse.
The MWRA Doesn’t Have to Expand to Be a Key Tool for Housing Production
Tying land use regulations to local sewer and water infrastructure can be narrowly targeted, and won’t require spending up to $3 billion and won’t take 30 years to be implemented.
Harris to Call for 3M New Homes in Next Four Years
Vice President Kamala Harris is zeroing in on high food and housing prices as her campaign previews an economic policy speech Friday in North Carolina.
As Deadline Looms, a Look at Beacon Hill’s Competing Housing Bills
House and Senate negotiators face an end-of-July deadline to agree on a compromise housing policy-and-funding bill before the legislature goes on break for the rest of the year.
We Need More Family-Sized Homes in the City, Small Homes in the Suburbs
Greater Boston needs lots of housing. But it also needs the right kind of housing to match its demographic trends: seniors needing single-level living and young families needing bigger homes.
Poll Shows It’s Up to Healey to Guide State’s Housing Fixes
When it comes to tackling the housing crisis, Massachusetts voters want an all-of-the-above approach. That’s one message to take away from a recent poll.
