Andrew Brinker
@andrewbrinker.bsky.social
Boston Globe housing reporter | writing about Massachusetts’ housing problem, and how we might fix it | fleeing Twitter.
The cost of rent is at least partly responsible for some of the biggest economic challenges facing the state: Young people are leaving, the middle class is hollowing out, and Massachusetts’ economic competitiveness is faltering.
‘The public really wants this’: Despite ballot failure, rent control is popular in Massachusetts - The Boston Globe
The question had gathered enough momentum to bring powerful real estate groups to the bargaining table to discuss a compromise.
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Governor Maura Healey over the weekend said she would support a legislative compromise on rent control in order to avoid a brutal ballot fight this fall. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/06/15/b...
‘I’m going to do everything in my power.’ Healey says she supports a compromise on rent control ballot measure - The Boston Globe
Healey’s comments, made at a forum hosted by the Service Employees International Union, came a few weeks after a group of tenant advocates and high-powered real estate developers floated a plan that w...
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We seem to be closer than any time in recent memory to the return of rent control in Massachusetts, due in no small part to the ever-rising cost of housing here. For a Globe story, do you have thoughts on rent control? Share them here! www.bostonglobe.com/2026/06/11/b...
Tell us: How do you feel about rent control? - The Boston Globe
This November, Massachusetts voters may be faced with a ballot question that could impose a statewide cap on annual rent increases. The Globe wants to hear your thoughts.
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Is there anywhere left in Massachusetts that is still accessible to middle-income households? Use our calculator to see what home price you can afford, and what cities and towns you may be able to find that house in. trib.al/yqG5vE0
After a surge of affordable housing development in Boston, the money that helps pay for it all is drying up amid the city’s broader development slowdown.
After a surge of affordable housing development in Boston, the money that helps pay for it all is drying up - The Boston Globe
After a surge of affordable housing development in recent years, the money that helps pay for it all is drying up amid the city’s broader development slowdown.
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After ambitious state law, Lexington welcomed a wave of new housing. Now people there are having second thoughts. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/05/b...
After ambitious state law, Lexington welcomed a wave of new housing. Now people there are having second thoughts. - The Boston Globe
Lexington is set to add at least 1,600 new apartments and condominiums in the coming years.
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Could Mass. build more housing if buildings had fewer staircases? Gov. Maura Healey is interested in finding out. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/12/b...
Maura Healey unveiled her latest plan to tackle Massachusetts’ housing crisis: Fewer staircases - The Boston Globe
Fire codes have long required two staircases in mid-rise apartment buildings. But advocates worry that drives up construction costs. So the state will study doing away with one.
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Mass. lawmakers have for years ignored advocates' calls for rent control. Now staring down a ballot question that would enact the country's strictest rent cap, will they consider a legislative compromise? www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/04/b...
Beacon Hill may not be able to avoid rent control much longer - The Boston Globe
Some tenant advocates are hoping lawmakers will take up a legislative compromise to enact a version of rent control while avoiding a bruising ballot fight.
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A story about what all of those local housing fights are really about: change. A housing crisis, a state law, and Winthrop's fight to stay the same. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/03/b...
How the state’s most ambitious housing law in decades is tearing this peninsula town apart - The Boston Globe
Many towns have been divided over the MBTA Communities Act, but few as badly as Winthrop.
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Are you a Greater Boston renter who is worried you may never be able to buy a home in this region? Get in touch for a story I'm working on about the changing economics of homebuying, and who can really afford to buy around here. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/30/b...
Are you worried you may never be able to purchase a home in Greater Boston? We want to hear from you. - The Boston Globe
The Globe is looking to speak with renters in Greater Boston about their experience searching for a home.
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In Massachusetts’ brutal housing market, the wait for housing vouchers that help hundreds of thousands afford the state’s sky-high rents can stretch as long as 15 years. Now, that wait may grow even longer. @andrewbrinker.bsky.social @bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/22/b...
As federal cuts loom, rental housing vouchers across Mass. are being put on hold - The Boston Globe
Most housing authorities in the state have recently stopped issuing new Section 8 vouchers when tenants give them up, and some are closing waitlists for new applicants.
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Why is it a bad thing if kids move away? Won't housing demand go down? Because those kids are future workers, who power companies and economy. “That's not a scenario anyone should root for,” says @dmccue.bsky.social. “States with healthy economies don‘t shrink.” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/14/b...
If so many people are leaving Massachusetts, why aren’t housing costs going down? - The Boston Globe
The state’s combination of slow population growth and sky-high prices would seem to contradict the basic laws of supply and demand.
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Housing is so expensive to build right now that some developers say that the so-called inclusionary housing requirement in Cambridge may be backfiring, making otherwise profitable projects too costly to build and stopping them before shovels hit the ground.
‘The numbers should work, and they just don’t’: Is Cambridge’s affordable housing rule backfiring? - The Boston Globe
Housing is so expensive to build right now that some developers say the city's requirement that 20 percent of units be aside at below-market rents is making otherwise profitable projects too costly.
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Hi Greater Boston folks. For a Globe story about the state of the housing market: Have you been looking to buy a house but are holding out for lower interest rates? Searched for a place to buy but can't find anything in your price range? DM me, or drop a line at andrew.brinker@globe.com
Housing supply is crunched and costs are rising, but Massachusetts is taking steps to fix the problem. Today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains those efforts, and their limits, with a huge assist from my colleague @andrewbrinker.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/19/n...
Is this the fix for Massachusetts’ housing crisis? - The Boston Globe
Faced with a supply crunch and rising costs, the state has taken steps to make housing more plentiful and more affordable.
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For those following MBTA Communities state housing law: In new "emergency regulations" filed today after SJC ruling last week, the state extends an olive branch to Milton and other noncompliant towns, extending their deadline to pass a zoning plan to July 14. For now, Milton has another chance.
Starting at noon, I’m doing a Reddit AMA talking all things Massachusetts housing. Have a question? Come join! There’s already a ton of great discussion on this thread. www.reddit.com/r/boston/com...
From the boston community on Reddit: I’m Andrew Brinker, a reporter at The Boston Globe covering housing and the cost of living in Massachusetts. Ask me anything about Greater Boston’s housing crisis.
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Have a question about Greater Boston’s ongoing housing crisis? Join us on Reddit at noon! Globe reporter @andrewbrinker.bsky.social will be answering questions on a wide range of topics.
“Why can a wealthy homeowner build a single 4,500 square-foot house, but a community-minded developer can’t build three 1,500 square-foot homes without the municipal equivalent of an act of Congress?” @lesliepool.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2024/12/06/b...
Solutions to Boston’s housing crisis ... in Texas? - The Boston Globe
A group of city councilors invited a group of their colleagues north to help figure out how Boston might dig out of its deep housing shortage the way Austin is.
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