Not Building More Housing Is the Worst Thing You Can Do for Your Schools
Perceptions that new housing equals a flood of new students aren’t new. What is new is the misinformation about it in debates around MBTA Communities compliance.
Newton PR Firm Launches ‘HousingLab’ to Help Get Homes Built
Ball Consulting Group, a strategic communications and public relations consultancy based in Newton, is staffing up a new practice area aimed at making a dent in the region’s housing shortage.
A Backlash in Barnstable
Zoning changes designed to revitalize downtown Hyannis got immediate traction from developers proposing multifamily housing. But a leadership change on the Barnstable Town Council is driving fears of a rollback.
Development and Environmentalism Shouldn’t Be Enemies
If we listen more closely to grandstanding at public hearings about new housing’s environmental impact, we often find the assertions brought by opponents are fraught with misinformation and bad assumptions.
Opposing New Housing Only Benefits the Rich
Marx and Engels would surely roll in their graves to know that their intellectual descendants in Massachusetts were embracing a politics that directly and substantially benefits the bourgeoisie and the rentier class while pummeling workers.
On a Mission to Build Housing Democracy
Jesse Kanson-Benanav wants to help change the rules that shape who gets to live where and why, and he’s on a mission to bring new voices to the table who want to see more housing in Massachusetts.
Study: White, Male Homeowners Overrepresented on Land-Use Boards
Massachusetts boards that oversee local land use and construction are typically dominated by white male homeowners, a recent study from Boston University researchers found.
How Much Does NIMBYism Cost? Industry Group Claims Answer
A new report from the National Multifamily Housing Council hints at the costs created by the kind of strident local opposition that’s bedeviled new apartment and condominium projects across Massachusetts.
Towns Eye Dodge of ‘MBTA Communities’ Law
It’s the most ambitious attempt yet to grapple with the Bay State’s chronic housing shortage and the sky-high rents and prices it has fueled. But barely two months after its details hit the street, trouble is brewing.
Amherst Homeowners Push Misguided Apartment Freeze
What in the world is going on out in deepest blue Amherst? Plans for two new mixed-used projects in place of tired downtown retail plazas are drawing the ire of long-time residents.
Boston’s Next Mayor Must Deliver Homes for All
A fundamental tension between outdated institutions that deliver progress on housing and the need for fundamental reform necessary for a more equitable future will underlie this race.
Can More Diverse Boards Help Fix Segregation?
The national examination of our country’s racist past has sparked growing interest and debate over dusty, decades-old zoning rules suburban communities in the Boston area have thrown up over the years to bar construction of apartments and affordable housing.
Trump Admits Dark Truth Behind NIMBYism
The president has exposed an unpleasant truth lurking just beneath the surface – and occasionally right in the open – about decades of resistance in Boston’s suburbs to the construction of new housing.
Why So Few Black Homeowners?
Only about a third of Black households in Greater Boston own their homes, while roughly 79 percent of area white households own their homes, thanks to decades discrimination.
Amid Talk of Housing Crisis, Production Dropped 17 Percent in 2010s
The 2010s saw lots of talk about the desperate need for more housing in Greater Boston. So, with the decade officially at an end, just how did we do? Unfortunately, not too hot.
Natural Gas Bans Are Worse than Useless – They’ll Hurt a Lot
Banning natural gas in new construction is a quick way to kill the economic miracle that has transformed the Boston area over the past half century from a rusting backwater to one of the planet’s top metros.
Weston Hits New Low with Campaign Against Multifamily Project
The real outrage is this: In the midst of a regional and national housing crisis, NIMBY jerks in upscale communities like Weston are hell bent on demonizing multifamily housing and the people who live in it.
NIMBYs of the World, Unite!
The nation’s best-known democratic socialist is going way beyond just hollering about greedy luxury condo builders to interject himself into all sorts of housing disputes in cities across the country, typically on the side of the local NIMBY group.
Blame NIMBYs for Leftist Backlash on Housing Crisis
You reap what you sow. And after driving up rents and prices to insane levels thanks to decades of blocking any and all new residential construction, NIMBY homeowners in Massachusetts and across the country have succeed in sparking an extreme counter-reaction.
To Fix the Housing Crisis, Change the Conversation
It is beyond time for land-use and local decision makers to expand the housing conversation, to face our fears, and transform the public’s understanding of housing production.
