Maybe not so surprisingly, growing displays of open defiance by a handful of towns opposed to the MBTA Communities law are making lawmakers at the State House a bit nervous.
The message of a much-talked-about new book should sound all too familiar to Bay Staters. We’re choking off our own housing abundance with well-intentioned policies that, in the aggregate, have become an obstacle to building.
Just two reforms proposed by Gov. Maura Healey’s Unlocking Housing Production Commission could, on their own, generate thousands of new housing units. And the state Legislature wouldn’t have to lift a finger.
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.
A blue-ribbon commission appointed by Gov. Maura Healey has suggested allowing up to four units on residential lots statewide that have existing sewer and water connections, among other recommendations.
If Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Housing Secretary Ed Augustus had one message when speaking to real estate movers and shakers Tuesday morning in downtown Boston, it was “watch this space.”
Too narrow a focus? That’s the big question about the Healey administration’s efforts to tackle the housing crisis to date, which have been skewed towards apartment projects.
Massachusetts should allow two-family construction and eliminate minimum parking requirements for residential construction, according to a panel advising the Healey administration on real estate policy.
