Housing Headlines

SALEM --- An inclusionary zoning proposal championed by Mayor Kim Driscoll was defeated by the City Council on July 9 despite getting a 7-4 majority vote in favor of the measure. The proposal, which would require projects of six units or more to include affordable units, fell one vote short of the required two-thirds majority needed. After voting against the measure, councilor Domingo Dominguez criticized the mayor for not addressing the housing crisis. " "We've had 14 years of this administration and have no results," he said.

In a wide-ranging Q&A with the Boston Globe, the director of housing and neighborhoods at The Boston Foundation didn't just confine her remarks to steps that need to be taken to make the housing delivery system more racially equitable, but also said that low wages need to be addressed. "In order to build a thriving Black and brown middle class, first you need to have middle-class incomes," said Soni Gupta. "When it comes to higher-paying jobs, they’re still very white, even in nonprofits, so we have to make sure that we have Black and brown people represented there."

The Boston Housing Authority has announced it is extending its moratorium on nonessential evictions until the end of the year. The BHA is the second large housing entity to make such an announcement. Earlier in the week, Winn Companies, which owns 6,500 apartments at 51 buildings across the state - said it will halt evictions through the end of the year. Still on the books is a statewide moratorium, which is slated to expire on Aug. 18.

BOSTON --- The Baker-Polito Administration is expanding eligibility for emergency rental and mortgage assistance with a new program called ERMA. Short for Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance program, the $20 million ERMA program is similar to the state's Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program in that it will provide up to $4,000 for eligible households to pay rent or mortgage payments. The difference is households within 50-80% of area median income (AMI) are eligible whereas RAFT is for households up to 50% AMI.

BOSTON --- A 2019 study found that Boston is the third-most gentrified city in the nation. Using data from 2013-2017, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition report also found that Roxbury is particularly vulnerable to displacement as 81 percent of its residents are renters. The study also noted that the South End, Jamaica Plain and Dorchester have seen large declines in people of color, which is likely due to an influx of young white professionals moving in, the study said.

Residents of Chinatown and many in the architectural and planning community are mourning the death of Tunney Lee, the well-known MIT professor who helped found the Asian Community Development Corporation. The former head of the urban studies and planning department at MIT, he was a mentor to many in the affordable housing field and was a avid historian who fought for decades to preserve the heritage of Chinatown, his childhood neighborhood.