Hey, there! Log in / Register
Allston/Brighton residents form group to push for more affordable housing and more owner-occupied condos
By adamg on Sun, 04/08/2018 - 11:30am
Allston and Brighton residents who say their neighborhoods are being overrun with overpriced investor-owned housing units are organizing to fight for an increase in the number of affordable units developers have to include in their projects and to figure out how to increase the number of condos whose owners actually live in them.
The newly formed Brighton Allston Community Coalition also says the area's three colleges - BU, BC and Harvard - need to do more to relieve pressure on the local housing market by building even more dorms.
In a mission statement released yesterday, the group calls for:
An increase in the creation of affordable housing in Allston-Brighton, a significant concern given that Brighton’s median household income is $56,729 and Allston’s is $42,722. The City of Boston should mandate that all new large residential developments in Allston-Brighton make 20 percent of their units affordable (instead of the now-required 13%)
An increase in home-ownership units in new developments, with new condominium projects required to have high percentages of owner-occupancy to prevent them from being treated solely as rentals. Owner-occupancy would help stabilize an increasingly transient neighborhood. Allston’s owner-occupancy rate is 10 % - among the lowest in the city. Brighton’s owner-occupancy rate fell from 26.8% in 2010 to 22.5 % in 2015, and is now rapidly spiraling downward. These rates are significantly lower than the citywide average of 34%
The group says it will also push for improvements to public transit to serve the area's growing population, an overall neighborhood development plan to replace the current project-by-project method of approving new developments, more parks and a neighborhood that is economically, racially, ethnically and age diverse.
Topics:
Free tagging:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 BACC mission statement and list of founding members | 289.31 KB |
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Any evidence that renters are transient?
I think that may be a function of age much more than a function of rental or ownership.
I'm not sure that I follow the idea that housing people in rentals is a bad thing, anyway. Even younger people need a place to live and "not here" isn't an acceptable answer. Especially since the age and income levels that create the ability to buy are rising. Allston isn't exactly going to become a retirement community or a family friendly zone for any number of reasons, just because certain people want it to.
It is a strange bias of American life that property ownership conveys so many magical and mythical qualities.
Hear hear
Live forever, Swirly.
I've done my part. Somebody came to my house a while back asking me to sign a petition opposing the development getting built at Market and Saybrook. I declined, saying "where are people who want to try to be Bostonians supposed to live?"
I didn't forget when I moved here in 2003. Funny the number of adults who forgot that they were young once as they opine upon, shape, and dictate policy.
At a certain time in your
At a certain time in your life you will realize that owning a home is a wiser long-term investment than paying someone else rent year after year. It is VERY expensive to live in Boston, so it's a serious undertaking to purchase and you have to bust your ass working to do so... unless you have rich parents of course.
patronizing aside...
> "At a certain time in your life you will realize"
Patronizing aside, you make a lot of presuppositions here, like for example the idea that being married to a particular geographic location is desirable to everyone. Without the kind of "job" "security" and benefits enjoyed by earlier generations, the flexibility to up and move in search of the next opportunity is very compelling to many. At a certain time in your life you might realize that.
My plan
Continue to pay my cheap rent, wait for current homeowners to die, then maybe buy their houses.
Boy, that generation did a good job making itself rich to our exclusion, huh? Buy a house, write a tax code which favors home ownership, open banks who decide for some very bad reasons who gets a loan to buy one and who doesn't, then use the ensuing wealth to work less and use the free time to show up at meetings and goad elected officials into refusing permits to build even more housing, thus protecting their investment.
A lot of people in their 70's are trash. And two of the very worst of them got 95% of the popular vote in the last presidential election.
A lot of people in their 70's are trash?
The stupidity of that statement just shows me that you more than likely won't see that age.Or that house. Or that new car. Or a life.
I'll start the list
Mitch McConnell: 76 (and he cut taxes for horseplayers)
Jeff Sessions: 71
Your turn.
EDIT: Any person in their 70s who has children who derive income from labor who voted for Donald Trump under the guise that he would help them.
plenty of evidence that Allston is more transient
02134
27.9% Moved since previous year
more than double the rate in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area: 13.5%
more than double the rate in Massachusetts: 12.9%
https://censusreporter.org/profiles/86000US02134-02134/#geographical-mob...
https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US2507000-boston-ma/#geographic...
Yep
I feel like Darrell Hammond after 14 years in 02135.
Allston happens to be where a
Allston happens to be where a lot of colleges students and young people in their 20s (without spouses and children) live. That demographic tends to move around a lot. Is this news?
Everyone lived in Allston at least once right?
It's mandatory BTW.
I have few issues with
I have few issues with rentals.
First is my issue with free market rentals. The rental market in many parts of Boston doubled, tripled or even more in the past 20 years. If pay stayed even as rents sky rocketed you will see that transientness take hold. Not many people can absorb a two or three fold increase in rent.
My issue with affordable rental housing is the opposite direction. If the free market units are affordable for people making 150K a year and the affordable units max out at 50K a year what happens to the 50-100K people? If I am making 45K a year why would I want to try to do better? I am never going to be able to go directly from 50 to 150k.
I rent, I like renting, I would prefer to rent but I have been feeling the pressure every few years as rents climb. I have been downgrading every few years while still paying the same rent. At some point I have to make the choice to either move or start living with room mates. I am not sure how families do it. At least if they can buy a home the price will be locked in place.
And there we go!
NOW do you all see how worthless big government is? I mean, this was clear to everyone the whole time, right? Again, everybody say it with me: IN-CEN-TIVES. Welcome to libertarianism, my friend. Let me take you into my arms.
Also, you weren't living with roommates the whole time? Why the (expletive) not?
I think that may be a
A portion is being unable to keep up with rising rents. Ownership in a neighborhood stabilizes a significant portion of the costs. Sure, condo fees, taxes, insurance, and maintenance can go up. But your mortgage payment, if fixed rate, is constant for the next 30 years.
This group is more properly addressing the issues by pushing for housing that allows young people to make a transition from renting to owning in their neighborhood. Compare to the HUAB, who claims to want to reduce the transient nature of Allston, but whose policy is that young people should move to the suburbs when they are priced out of the neighborhood.
People like Swirly are the problem
As an 35YO adult who lives in Allston-Brighton, I will weigh in on on how I and others I know who live here feel.
None of us are saying rentals are bad, but the issue lies in the price gouging of the area. The unaffordable-affordable housing the Mayor and developers are touting will inevitably be bought by companies and investors who will then rent them out at the ever-growing prices seen in the area, as the gentrification plague has started sweeping our way. *REMEMBER* this is not housing for people who already live here - they are banking on getting higher wage earners to come in. (Smells of the Amazon pitch much?) Instead of stabilizing the neighborhood and investing in the people who already live here, they'd rather sell out to the highest bidder.
The reason AB is interesting and why I chose to live here, is because it's one of the last places in Boston that has diversity on all levels (race, ethnicity, age, singles/families, etc..). There are small businesses and restaurants that have survived and thrived, as well as a great community and arts scene. I love being able to walk down the street and feel the edge and realness that places like JP do not.
The developers coming in will ruin what special qualities they are selling these places on. (Just look at the plans for the McMansion-style eyesore planned for Cambridge St. and Harvard Ave, for just one example.) My husband and I are owners, but already thinking of our next move, but we're hoping hoping for the best and will stand strong with the neighborhood to push as hard as we can.
Why blame the person?
Why not blame the game - and change the game.
Stabilizing rental prices also stabilizes the community, and people need to have places to rent.
Agreed!
I agree with your sentiment wholeheartedly, but pointing out that argument Swirly made is not based on the reality for the many.
Not disparaging renters at all - I was a renter from 2000 until 2014. I am married to someone who was lucky enough to be older and buy 10+ years ago.
I also volunteer my time/donate to elect the lawmakers whose interests actually lie with the majority of people they serve, not just who has the deepest pockets. (Most recently, Tito Jackson's mayoral campaign.)
Your interests?
What part of Tito Jackson voting himself a 14% raise aligns with "your interests?"
Since Tito isn't even on city
Since Tito isn't even on city council now, this is a non-question.
His mayoral campaign platform was a lot more for "my interests" that MAHTY's.
Marty has us right on track to become like San Francisco - somewhere no one who makes under six figures can afford to thrive.
Can't wait for Marty's plan for Amazon to swoop in and save us all to go up in flames like 2020 and IndyCar.
There was a write-in space
I voted for myself. You could vote for me next time, and then I'll have two votes.
You own a home
And you are going on about "reality for many"?
If you are under 40 and own a home in the city AND are trying to block others from even renting in your neighborhood ...
Let me guess
You are 35 years old and own a place, so even though YOU came into the neighborhood as a RENTER, now you have yours and to hell with others who want to rent.
Hate to break it to you dear, but you have become the Junior NIMBY leader.
Any evidence that Allston is
Any evidence that Allston is any more transient now than in the 70s, 80s, 90s, or 00s?
Other neighborhoods such as
Other neighborhoods such as the South End have changed through the advocacy of their residents. Is there a reason Allston residents should not advocate for improvements in their own area?
Yes, owner occupied homes are
Yes, owner occupied homes are in decline, and have been steadily declining during the decades you cite.
Actually do to condo
Actually do to condo conversions owner occupancy rates in Boston have steadily increased from the 1970s until now, with some areas like Brigthon dropping a few points in the last few years.
That train left the station
a long time ago.