Housing Headlines

WORCESTER --- From the city's government to the housing authority to local organizations raising funds, Worcester stands out as a community that is helping people from hurricane-torn Puerto Rico. The city estimates that it has interacted with over 1,100 evacuees since Hurricane Maria hit on Sept. 20, 2017. The housing authority has helped over 200 in their search for housing.

FRAMINGHAM --- The city has hired RKG Associates to collect data and write a "Phase One Study" that would outline a strategic economic development plan and provide direction for futrue land uses. The effort is in response to voters asking for more detailed information of Framingham's existing characteristics. Eric Halvorsen, a senior project analyst at RKG, said one thing Framingham has going for it is location. While traffic can be challenging, the city touches routes 9 and 30, the Massachusetts Turnpike and the commuter rail, making it relatively easy for workers to get in and out. “It has a lot of different ways people can get in and out, which I think is an advantage,” Halvorsen said.

LYNN --- The Baker Administration's commitment to build 1,000 workforce housing units through MassHousing's Workforce Housing Initiative celebrated its first milestone last month as state and local leaders gathered to cut the ribbon on Gateway North, a $31 million, 71-unit mixed-income development on Washing Street across the street from North Shore Community College.

HOPEDALE --- The town has put forth a 42-page urban renewal plan that outlines the redevelopment of the former Draper Corp. factory site with over 500 units of housing and 170,000 square feet of commercial space. “If the design, construction, and pricing is ‘on point,’ people will come to live in Hopedale and support the redevelopment as well as providing housing options for young people that grew up in Hopedale but are unable to afford the current housing stock and are forced to move outside the town they grew up in,” the plan says.

WALTHAM --- With 11,000 jobs added and just a few hundred new housing units, Waltham is one of a handful of "job-rich" towns along Route 128 that have become "ground zero for Boston housing crunch," writes Tim Logan in a front-page report on the demand for housing in this city of 63,000.

MASHPEE --- Local discussions on the planned expansion of Mashpee Commons are centering on zoning, with the planning board originating two town meeting articles that would include an open space requirement of one acre for every acre developed, inclusionary zoning requiring that 15 percent of the housing be affordable and density of no more than 50 units per acre.