Boston’s two mayoral candidates strove to prove their growth-friendly bona fides before an attentive audience of developers, architects and non-profit executives at an Urban Land Institute forum this morning.
Both Marty Walsh and John Connolly pledged to reform the BRA, said the city needed to do more to develop middle-class housing and professed a willingness to loosen zoning requirements to allow denser, taller developments.
There were, however, some differences between the two, with Walsh placing more emphasis on business development and Connolly more focused on housing. Walsh decried the lack of start-up incubator space in the city in comparison to Cambridge and Somerville and cited the difficulties he faced in attempting to get an industrial park built in his district as areas he’d improve if elected.
"The re-zoning of Boston in a lot of cases prohibited business growth. They’ve been re-zoned for housing. I think we have a real opportunity to create revenue in Boston by creating better business areas and using our neighborhoods," he said.
Connolly, in contrast, cited the lack of middle-class housing in the city as his top priority, saying the city was in danger of becoming divided into a place for the very rich and the very poor.
"We’ve never struggled to build luxury condominiums in Boston, and that’s fine, luxury condominiums bring value. Our problem is, between affordable [housing] and luxury, we have no real plan," he said.
Connolly said he wanted the BRA to put an "aggressive emphasis on housing, and being bold and experimental" with denser, taller and more transit-centric housing.
He also said that increasing the transparency of the planning process would be a key priority for reforming the BRA, suggesting that having clear expectations and criteria for getting projects approved could help reduce conflict between developers and community members.
"I want to turn [the Inspectional Services Department] into the Apple Store," Connolly said. "I want you to walk into 1010 Mass Ave., and feel like all that’s gonna happen is someone will come flying at you with an iPad, and ask you ‘How can I help? I want one-stop shopping. I want a uniform process. I want everything available online. This is good for both business and residents."
Walsh positioned himself as the more developer-friendly of the two, declaring to a room full of developers and architects, "As mayor of the city of Boston, I will make sure you have the opportunities to do the projects you want to do and design the projects you want to design to make Boston a world-class city. I’m with you 100 percent there. But I need your help so that we take some of these ideas and bring them to the neighborhood." He said his experience as a leader of trade unions would enable him to help make sure complex projects can move quickly.
Connolly appeared somewhat less willing to align himself with developer’s priorities. Questioned about whether he’d be willing to relax stringent new building code requirements implemented by Mayor Thomas Menino, Connolly declined to back down saying tough standards were needed, especially in waterfront areas, to help prepare Boston for future Sandy-like hurricanes.
Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected to reflect the fact that Connolly was referring to the city’s Inspectional Services Department, whose offices are at 1010 Massachusetts Ave., and not the BRA, when he alluded to the Apple Store.
