Jonathan Berk
After decades of stalled reforms, entrenched local resistance, and a political culture that treated housing scarcity as an unfortunate inevitability, Massachusetts appears poised to enter a new phase.
The conversation on Beacon Hill has become sharper and more candid, new polling shows voters want deeper, faster action on housing affordability and local elections are sending pro-housing candidates into office. For the first time in decades, political leadership and public sentiment are aligned, creating a rare moment where transformational housing reform doesn’t just seem possible, but increasingly expected by voters.
Multiple recent opinion polls point to this public shift. A November survey from WCVB and UMass Amherst and a September poll from Abundant Housing Massachusetts both found that housing is now the most important issue for voters statewide.
A separate September poll from MassINC and Abundant Housing Massachusetts revealed a clear preference for solutions over obstruction: 63 percent of voters say the state should prioritize addressing the housing crisis, while only 28 percent believe strict “local control” should be prioritized.
In Boston, an August survey found that three-quarters of voters do not believe the city has done enough to address its housing crisis with strong majority support for upzoning proposals citywide.
Change in State House, Town Halls
Some of the clearest signals of this “vibe shift” are coming from Beacon Hill.
Senate President Karen Spilka recently spoke to GBH and acknowledged the depth of Massachusetts’ affordability challenges, warned of the economic consequences of inaction and called explicitly, and strongly, for structural solutions.
“Housing, housing, housing is the issue I hear everywhere I go… I have charged [Senator Julian Cyr, Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing] to be bold. Nothing is off the table,” she said.
Leaders on Beacon Hill have an opportunity to act on a slew of housing bills from reforms to the permitting process, changes to parking requirements, minimum lot size reform, allowing religious institutions to build housing on their properties and building code reforms allowing single-stair buildings again.
The implementation of the MBTA Communities Act underscores how dramatically the public landscape has changed. In 2021, full compliance seemed improbable. Today more than 165 cities and towns have created some level of zoning for multifamily housing.
In many places this shift goes beyond just “paper compliance,” but represents a bold move away from over half a century of housing stagnation. In dozens of communities, housing reform was debated for the first time in a generation, and grassroots pro-housing groups emerged to support compliance efforts in cities like Milton and Marblehead and continue to fight for more reforms.
Election Results Show Support
Boston is also showing signs of long-awaited movement. Councilors Sharon Durkan, Henry Santana, and Enrique Pepén are now asking why the housing typology that built Boston’s workforce, the triple-decker, is impossible to build today. Last month, the City Council held its first hearing focused on understanding the barriers to middle housing, duplexes, triplexes and small apartment buildings, and appears poised to pursue necessary reforms in 2026.
Momentum is building statewide as well. Recent municipal elections in Salem, Newton, Medford and Cambridge delivered victories for pro-housing candidates in highly competitive races, setting the stage for more ambitious housing reforms in 2026. In Salem, where the City Council recently eliminated minimum parking requirements for new multifamily development in a decisive 10–1 vote, the lone councilor opposed to the reform was defeated by a 20-point margin.
Adding further momentum is the Legalize Starter Homes ballot initiative, which surpassed 100,000 signatures and is headed toward the 2026 ballot. The proposal would shrink minimum lot sizes to 5,000 square feet in areas with water and sewer, an overdue correction in a state where some of the nation’s largest lot-size mandates effectively ban entry-level homes in most communities.
Voters Want Action
All of these forces point to the same conclusion: voters increasingly blame political inaction for high prices, and they want leaders to act.
Local officials are feeling growing pressure to move despite the scars of past housing battles. State leaders are now talking openly about structural reform. Grassroots pro-housing organizations are emerging in communities where opposition to housing was recently the only voice.
This “vibe shift” matters because it reshapes what reforms politicians see as feasible, moving the broader housing reform conversation from “no” to “yes, but how?”
Massachusetts has a chance to reset the trajectory of its housing future. For the first time in decades, voters, local leaders, and state officials are aligned around the need for real change.
But alignment is not the same as action. The choices made in 2026 will determine whether this moment becomes a turning point or another missed opportunity. The vibe has shifted, now the policy must follow, our collective future of the commonwealth we all love depends on it.
Jonathan Berk is the founder of the real estate and placemaking consultancy re:MAIN and the board chair of Abundant Housing Massachusetts.
