Congress passed a bipartisan housing law. Now the hard part begins. The biggest barriers to building homes aren't in Washington, they're local. ROAD creates powerful incentives, but whether it delivers housing depends on whether local governments choose to say "yes." www.pew.org/en/research-...

The Success of the New Federal Housing Law Now Rests on States and Localities

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, enacted on July 11, represents the first comprehensive federal law in decades designed to increase homebuilding. The bipartisan package contains more than 50 prov...

pew.org

A big credit to the dozen pro-housing activists who stayed until midnight to witness the vote, and the 150+ emails sent in support of overriding the mayor's housing veto! @wneighborhoods.bsky.social

Jonathan Berk 🏠@berkie1.bsky.social · yesterday

In one of the biggest local housing votes of the year, Waltham's City Council overrode the mayor's veto of the Bay Colony redevelopment. The project would replace aging office space with a new mixed-use neighborhood and up to 1,200 homes. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/04/b...

In one of the biggest local housing votes of the year, Waltham's City Council overrode the mayor's veto of the Bay Colony redevelopment. The project would replace aging office space with a new mixed-use neighborhood and up to 1,200 homes. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/04/b...

Waltham’s mayor vetoed a big new housing plan. The City Council said do it anyway. - The Boston Globe

The 15-member council voted overwhelmingly to override the veto and approve a special zoning district for a 135-acre stretch of office buildings off Winter Street owned by BXP, the city’s largest taxp...

bostonglobe.com

After 26 years of proposals, rejections & delays, Boston's ZBA has finally approved redevelopment of the long-vacant former Biscotti's bakery in the North End. The project will add five condos above a reopened bakery, ending more than 2-decades of uncertainty. www.universalhub.com/2026/after-2...

"Zoning powers... should not be left unchecked, but should be subject to sensible controls & restrictions; & that the towns have misused their zoning powers in trying to prevent residential development through large lot zoning.” 📰 Boston Globe 📅 February 14, 1960

The Salem Witch Trials lasted 9 months, roughly 0.19% of Salem’s 400+ year history. The other 99.81%? A global maritime powerhouse, architectural treasures, innovation, and generations of people who built one of New England’s most remarkable & resilient cities.

It is jarring to read this and then read about Waltham's mayor vetoing a large housing development because "dramatically decreasing parking requirements for all uses both residential and commercial, set[s] a dangerous precedent for the city." 🫠

Jonathan Berk 🏠@berkie1.bsky.social · 3d ago

“You have to make people dream. The space that’s taken by a single car can be used for so much more.” @milesperhoward.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/02/o...

“You have to make people dream. The space that’s taken by a single car can be used for so much more.” @milesperhoward.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/02/o...

What Boston can learn from Montreal’s car-free summer - The Boston Globe

Miles of city roadway become places for gardens, art, outdoor dining, and unhurried discovery.

bostonglobe.com

"Without high, measurable benchmarks, American taxpayers stand to waste tens of millions of dollars on window dressing. HUD needs to write ground rules that hold grant recipients accountable for reforms that actually create housing." @sarabronin.bsky.social www.vitalcitynyc.org/increasing-h...

The Road to Producing More Housing Passes Through Meaningful Local Zoning Reforms

America needs more homes in the right places. That means fixing zoning.

vitalcitynyc.org

The irony of affordable housing: We’ve created a system where it can cost more to build than market-rate housing. Much more. Colorado is showing that doesn’t have to be the case. Cut the red tape. Lower the cost. Build more capital "A" Affordable homes. theconversation.com/affordable-h...

Affordable housing often costs more to build than market-rate housing – Colorado is closing the gap

Lower land costs and new statewide housing reforms have made Colorado an outlier.

theconversation.com

Last year, Texas passed SB 840, overriding local control to allow offices, retail & warehouses to become multifamily housing by right. No rezoning. No hearings. No NIMBY veto. Since then, 8,400 apartments have been permitted under this bill, roughly 1 in 5 multifamily units statewide.

Last year, Texas passed SB 840, overriding local control to allow offices, retail & warehouses to become multifamily housing by right. No rezoning. No hearings. No NIMBY veto. Since then, 8,400 apartments have been permitted under this bill, roughly 1 in 5 multifamily units statewide.

"One of the most expensive commodities in Massachusetts, land, is needed in enormous amounts for every single home that we built... A duplex shouldn't require an act of god or a miracle before the zoning board of appeals to get built." - State Senator @juliancyr.bsky.social

this painting from the Salem Witch Trials looks remarkably similar to a community meeting for a new housing development…

"One of the most expensive commodities in Massachusetts, land, is needed in enormous amounts for every single home that we built... A duplex shouldn't require an act of god or a miracle before the zoning board of appeals to get built." - State Senator @juliancyr.bsky.social

In 2020, Portland legalized middle housing on most residential lots. 1,400+ units have been built, averaging $300,000 less than a single-family in the same neighborhood. Massachusetts needs reforms like this if we want the next generation to be able to set down roots here.

A theme here is that if a person inside city government intervenes on behalf of a restaurant losing parking spots or a random driver getting a parking ticket, that's seen as constituent services. If another government insider works on behalf of keeping people alive, that's seen as advocacy.

StreetsblogMASS@mass.streetsblog.org · 2w ago

A public records request reveals how @mayorwu.boston.gov's election-year "review" of transportation projects created a duplicate layer of authority inside City Hall that fomented confusion and stalled urgent safety initiatives: mass.streetsblog.org/2026/07/22/f...

Honored to once again have the opportunity to support my friend @burhanazeem.bsky.social and his important run for the Massachusetts Senate and join this list of rockstar housing advocates and doers from across the Nation.

Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem@burhanazeem.bsky.social · 2w ago

Over the past ten years, the housing movement has grown from a small number of people into a national collective pushing change across the country: Maryland, Arizona, Cambridge, California, and now the halls of Congress. On August 4, the people behind those wins are coming together on one call.

🚨PSA: No one in Massachusetts is proposing to “eliminate single-family zoning.” A Senate proposal would simply give property owners more options: build a single-family home OR a small duplex, currently allowed in just 38% of Massachusetts. Single-family homes remain allowed.

🚨PSA: No one in Massachusetts is proposing to “eliminate single-family zoning.” A Senate proposal would simply give property owners more options: build a single-family home OR a small duplex, currently allowed in just 38% of Massachusetts. Single-family homes remain allowed.

Allowing duplexes in single-family districts does not eliminate single-family zoning. Single-family homes would still be allowed. You'd simply have the option to build a duplex, too. Headlines like this are inaccurate & unnecessarily sensationalize an already complex topic.

The Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office has announced the order and numbers for the nine ballot questions that will appear on the November ballot. Legalize Starter Homes is Question 7. YES ON 7!

🚨MASSACHUSETTS HOUSING ACTION ALERT MA should stop requiring every new home to come with more parking than residents need. Amendment 135 to the Senate Ec Dev Bill removes parking minimums near transit and caps them at one space per home in most other cases. Ask your Senator to vote YES

The Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office has announced the order and numbers for the nine ballot questions that will appear on the November ballot. Legalize Starter Homes is Question 7. YES ON 7!

🚨MASSACHUSETTS HOUSING ACTION ALERT MA should stop requiring every new home to come with more parking than residents need. Amendment 135 to the Senate Ec Dev Bill removes parking minimums near transit and caps them at one space per home in most other cases. Ask your Senator to vote YES

Incredibly disappointed and infuriated to read this 'article' in MassterList this morning: massterlist.com/p/keller-may... My Letter to the Editor is attached. Unsubscribing @massterlist.com.

I’m glad I wasn’t the only one shocked by this morning’s incredibly tone deaf @massterlist.com newsletter. A young woman who devoted her life to making Boston’s streets safer for all road users died on those very streets just days ago. This mornings opinion piece lacked any semblance of compassion.

The MA budget delivered the biggest Zoning Act changes in years, a relaxed variance standard that weighs the public need for new housing. House & Senate Econ Dev bills could also add by-right duplexes statewide, guardrails on local site plan review, Yes In God's Backyard & more.

Dear members of the media: please stop using the phrase "eliminating single-family zoning." It's factually inaccurate & its vagueness and negative framing needlessly confuses and alarms people who don't understand the nuances of zoning. www.brookings.edu/articles/end...

‘End single-family zoning’ is bad political messaging | Brookings

brookings.edu

The MA budget delivered the biggest Zoning Act changes in years, a relaxed variance standard that weighs the public need for new housing. House & Senate Econ Dev bills could also add by-right duplexes statewide, guardrails on local site plan review, Yes In God's Backyard & more.