Cambridge Day does not endorse candidates or positions. Views expressed in this column are those of the writer.
The rent is too high. People who grew up in our community keep getting priced out. For young families, it feels impossible to plan for a future here in Massachusetts. With every friendly neighbor who is pushed out of the city into a grueling commute, or leaves for an affordable home in Georgia or Texas, the tapestry of our neighborhoods fades a shade duller.
None of this is set in stone. Cambridge and Somerville have started to make progress tackling our housing shortage. More than 1,000 new affordable homes are going up all around Cambridge, and last year we overturned exclusionary zoning rules after a century on the books. I’m proud to have been a housing advocate here in Cambridge since 2020, standing at the front of the campaigns to update our old laws and fund affordable housing.
But the rest of Massachusetts needs to do its part. We are behind other states in New England and blue states around the country when it comes to legalizing and funding housing. And we’re behind on results, too: if you rank all 50 states on how many homes are getting permitted (per capita), Massachusetts underperforms, year after year.
I’m running for state representative so that everyone who wants to build their future in Massachusetts can find a home they can afford. Here’s how we can get it done:
- End exclusionary zoning statewide. Maine legalized three or four units on any property where residential use is allowed, and Vermont did the same on properties with utility access.
- Fund affordable housing. In addition to supporting public and non-profit housing, Massachusetts should learn from Oregon and Washington state, which have successfully funded inclusionary zoning programs. Inclusionary zoning delivers below market-rate homes in privately built projects. Affordable housing provides enormous value to the whole community. We should be willing to fund it, instead of counting on developers and future renters to fill the gap.
- Lift parking mandates statewide. Nearly all municipalities around the state require new housing to come with off-street parking spaces. These requirements often far exceed demand, so that 30% of parking spaces in new apartment buildings around the region sit empty overnight. Connecticut, meanwhile, lifted parking mandates across much of the state last year.
Passing these policies is easier said than done. That’s where my experience as a housing advocate here in Cambridge is helpful. Our district is 15 minutes from Beacon Hill on the T; I’ll take my colleagues to Central Square, East Cambridge, and East Somerville, show them the great new homes we’re building, and talk through the politics and policy that made them possible. Since many legislators are worried about the state’s financial situation (and property taxes in their hometowns), I’ll make the case that housing development is fiscally positive. Of course, some representatives will have the same apprehensions about zoning reform as neighbors in Cambridge, around parking, green space, or affordability. I’ve spent hours chatting with these neighbors, listening genuinely to their concerns, and sharing my perspective and my generation’s experiences with the housing shortage. I won’t convince everyone. But I’ve seen again and again that one good conversation can persuade folks that changes they’re personally uncomfortable with are nonetheless beneficial.
Housing is one issue where the State House has in fact tried to act. The MBTA Communities Act seems like it was designed to generate a backlash, with every zoning change requiring approval by unhappy town meeting voters packed into school gyms. The Housing Bond Bill shows we’re willing to spend money, too: it authorized $5.16 billion over 5 years. But given that willingness to spend money and political capital, have we gotten the results we deserve?
My opponent, Rep. Mike Connolly, says he’s a leader on housing policy. But with Connolly’s inconsistent record of actually supporting new homes, in his district and across the state, it’s no wonder Beacon Hill’s housing laws aren’t working as we need. Ironically, Connolly opposed the apartment building where my wife and I now live (see p. 33 here) – the biggest addition of affordable housing in the neighborhood in decades. He criticized a change in state law that made it easier for exclusionary suburbs to legalize multifamily housing. WGBH’s headline summarized Connolly’s argument: “Building More Multifamily Homes Doesn’t Mean They’ll Be More Affordable.” And his own record of actually delivering affordable housing is lacking. After 10 years in office, pushing for social housing, with no money budgeted and no buildings moving forward, the most Rep. Connolly has to show for his efforts is a task force.
Being a progressive means I actually want to make progress. For families being pushed out of Cambridge, Somerville, and the rest of Massachusetts by crushing housing costs, progress can’t come soon enough. As your state representative, I’ll be focused on results.
Neil Miller is public servant, housing advocate, and data scientist who is running for State Representative in the 26th Middlesex District in the Democratic primary on September 1. More information is available at his website, NeilMillerMA.com.
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What Mr. Miller leaves out is that Cambridge is dense and over populated. Our infrastructure is strained and breaking (look no further than the streets which are in poor shape).
Cambridge is spending outrageous sums for schools, which would be fine if the students were properly taught (why is it that so many students cannot read or do math at grade level).
No, Cambridge doesn’t need more residents. It needs to pare down a bloated city government, and stop the spiral of large tax increases that are forcing economic middle class home owners to sell their homes, because they are cash poor and house rich.
Mr. Miller… face reality. Cambridge has more than enough people.
Wow Neil-
Concerning to see you using the same shady tactics of lies and false promises that ABC has used here in Cambridge.
We already have plenty of state reps with questionable character, no need for another one.