Election Update — THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Congratulations to all the winners of Tuesday’s election. I won’t repeat our entire Thursday election recap (read it on our web site if you missed it), but we want to particularly call out Kimberly Richardson for her excellent, and successful, campaign for Housing Authority! And while we are disappointed that Alec Lebovitz’s campaign for Select Board came up short, we look forward to working with Bernard Greene, David Pearlman, and the rest of the Select Board on important policy going forward.
We also want to reiterate a highlight of the local election: Town Meeting has more pro-housing members today than it did before May 7.
And finally, we want to again thank all of our endorsed candidates, both winners and those who didn’t quite make it, and all of our fantastic volunteers. This was an active campaign across the Town, and your efforts have gone a long way both in convincing voters to vote for them and in continuing to build a pro-housing consensus in Brookline.
Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study Meetings
The Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study has been tasked with incentivizing new commercial growth, and enhancing the livability and identity of the neighborhood along Boylston Street just before the Newton line. The study’s advisory group will be meeting on Monday, May 13 at 6pm via Zoom (click here for the agenda and to register). They’ll be reviewing input from community outreach efforts and be presented with a commercial market study analysis. Calls for expanding Brookline’s commercial tax base have become increasingly common, and for good reason, and the outcome of this study will go a long way in determining how serious folks are to actually create new commercial opportunities. We hope you’ll continue following this important discussion, and raise this issue when chatting with Select Board and Town Meeting members.
Two additional opportunities to participate in this process will occur on Thursday and Friday.
- The Town will be hosting a community site walk of the Chestnut Hill study area on Friday, May 17th at 4:30pm. This is a great opportunity for one-on-one conversations with planning staff, the consultants working on the project, and members of the study group to express an interest in maximizing the potential commercial development opportunities along Boylston Street. We want to emphasize that all Brookline residents are encouraged to participate. A successful rezoning of this area will have impacts across Brookline. Not every neighborhood has significant commercial development potential, so we should be sure to take advantage of the parts of town that do.
- Weekly office hours will be held Thursdays at noon through June 20th. From the website: “The Economic Development Division will be hosting standing office hours [creating] an opportunity for community members to learn more about the Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study and engage in Q&A with staff about the project’s goals and status update on the project timeline and analysis.” Register for the Zoom sessions here.
Other Town Meetings of Note This Week
- The Housing Advisory Board will have a brief meeting on Wednesday, May 15th at 5:30pm via Zoom. The only agenda item will include further discussion of warrant article 13 regarding Accessory Dwelling Units, including proposed amendments, and a possible vote on revisions. Register here.
- The Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, May 15th at 7pm on a proposed project at Heath/Sheafe that calls for a 6 story building with 105 apartments (with 26 designated as affordable). We are excited to see a substantial project being proposed on Boylston Street near the commercial district abutting the Newton line, and look forward to the ZBA and development team completing the process to move the project ahead. Click here for more project information, and here for the meeting agenda and Zoom registration.
- Open Space Plan Public Forum on May 16th at 7pm, online via Zoom and at 870 Hammond Street. Brookline has begun an open space planning process. We encourage folks to stay abreast of their progress. Click here for more information on this forum and to register.
New Tools to Support Real Estate Transfer Fee
We’ve written before about the local option Real Estate Transfer Fee, part of Governor Healey’s Affordable Homes Act that the legislature is considering now. If this legislation becomes law, Brookline could adopt a RETF that could raise over $10,000,000 per year by charging a 2% fee on the amount of each real estate sale, excluding the first $1 million. That amount dwarfs what we raise for our Affordable Housing Trust (which currently has only about $3,000,000 in unencumbered funds) and from the Community Preservation Act (which raises about $3,000,000 a year to be split among historic preservation, open space and recreation, and community housing). Progressive Massachusetts has a terrific new website to express your support on social media and in letters to our legislators. Take 2 minutes — or less — and send a letter using this tool. Thank you!
The Brookline Housing Authority & Brookline Community Development Corporation’s Roadmap Program
We’re excited to highlight an ongoing program being put on by the Brookline Community Development Corporation (BCDC) and the Brookline Housing Authority, with support from the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation. The goal is for folks to build an understanding of financial wellness and learn strategies to get there. It has a broad focus on credit and savings. The 2nd Financial Wellness workshop is scheduled for Mary 16. A final session titled “Homebuying 100: Intro to Homebuying” will be held on May 23rd. All sessions will be held in-person at the Brookline Housing Authority’s office at 90 Longwood Avenue. Click here for more details, including a registration link. We encourage you to share widely with anyone who may benefit from the sessions.
What We’re Reading This Week
Wages are catching up with rents across the US. But not in Boston. Median rent across the country rose by 3.4% in 2023, less than 4.3% increase in wages; in metro Boston the figures were reversed, with a 5.8% increase in rents and a 1% decrease in real wages. We’re not alone, with similar (or worse) results in New York City, Providence, and Hartford. The article quotes Barry Bluestone, founding dean of Northeastern’s School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs: “In many cities like Boston, there’s very little new housing. As a result, if demand goes up, the supply isn’t there to meet it, and therefore, prices go up.” We’ve been making progress in greater Boston and Brookline changing restrictive zoning laws to allow more housing, such as the MBTA Communities Act zoning changes across the region. We hope to make more progress at Spring Town Meeting by making it easier to create accessory dwelling units, but we are still behind the curve and need to keep at it.