Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- From Medford to Newton, Revere to Braintree, upcoming local elections could partially hinge on housing and development issues, reports the Globe's Tim Logan. In his story, Logan writes that several of the 15 mayors who last fall together pledged to permit more housing are facing challengers, many of whom hold different ideas about how their communities should look and feel.

BOSTON --- Concerns about rising rents bubbled over in a Mattapan neighborhood recently as about 30 residents took the streets along the busy Cummins Highway to protest what they say is a trend of step rent hikes and inadequate living conditions at the 400-unit Fairlawn Apartments. According to tenant organizers, DSF Group has raised some families’ rents by as high as 20 percent since it acquired the property in July 2018 for $65 million. Organizers say some families have already been displaced by rent increases.

SALEM --- For the second time in less than a year, the Salem City Council failed to deliver the necessary two-thirds majority vote necessary to OK a housing proposal intended to provide more affordable housing for the city. This time, the council defeated an accessory bylaw that would've allowed Salem homeowners to rent out existing accessory dwelling units on their property, or move into it and rent out their homes. The proposal earned a 6-5 favorable vote but needed to pass 8-3.

PROVINCETOWN --- In the wake of a story in which the Town of Truro was forced to choose between shutting down a motel for code violations or keeping it open for its year-round residents, reporter Katie Landeck writes that the affordable housing shortage is a math problem, where owners can make twice as much renting their homes to tourists than they can to year-round residents.

BOSTON --- In Mattapan, some residents are diving into the fine print of the city'z zoning laws to figure out how three homes on their dead end street are being redeveloped into 20 condominiums.

QUINCY – Neighbors concerned about a 465-unit residential development proposed for the former Quincy Hospital site say they’ll continue to push for fewer units, but Quincy-based FoxRock Properties are indicating they’re sticking with their plan and are ready to build.