Happy Fourth of July! We hope everyone takes the day to celebrate the best America has to offer, spend time with friends and family, and takes a little time to think about how we can each take steps toward fulfilling the promise of the Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal” and entitled to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Senate Passes the Housing Bond Bill
This past Thursday, the Massachusetts State Senate voted to approve the housing bond bill. We especially want to thank Brookline’s Senator Cynthia Creem for her support for the bill. The bill includes authorization to fund significant increases for public housing, smart growth, community planning, and more. It also authorizes by right Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) statewide in single-family zoned districts, the creation of an Office of Fair Housing, and a fund to support mixed-income multifamily housing. The bill will now go to a joint conference committee so the House and Senate can reconcile each body’s bills before a final vote and an expected signature from Governor Healy. We’re excited for so much of what this bill includes, and the commitment shown from the Governor and Legislature to addressing our vast housing needs across the income spectrum. There’s much more work to do, both locally and at the state level, but as Senator, and Housing Committee Chairwoman, Lydia Edwards said, the bill “can’t fix it all…But it can course correct…The housing conversation and the solutions and the tools that we need to build are just starting again.”
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University on “Rental Deserts, Segregation, and Zoning”
Researchers at The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University released an important report on “Rental Deserts, Segregation, and Zoning” that found associations between a lack of rental housing and increased racial and economic segregation, and that these rental housing deserts are directly related to restrictive zoning and land use regulations. The researchers conclude the report with recommended zoning changes to allow multifamily housing and rental options, and also recognize that while zoning is a necessary change, addressing rental deserts and segregation will “require building more homes at lower price points, increasing access to homeownership, and expanding housing subsidies.” Read the abstract and full report here.
How Our Built Environment Impacts the Loneliness Epidemic
In 2023 the U.S. Surgeon General released a report titled “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation”. There have been a lot of discussions about the causes of this challenge facing so many, but the way our built environment has developed over the past 75 years or so has played a major role in separating people from each other, minimizing spontaneous interactions, and weakening the bonds of community. A recent video posted by Strong Towns tackles this issue head on – We Built Isolating Places. Can We Get Out? While much of Brookline avoids the worst loneliness-inducing elements of the built environment discussed in this video, and with the Housing Bill advancing ADUs, thinking differently about the Town’s low density neighborhoods and car-centric parts of town can have a meaningful impact on our collective mental health and community bonds.