Boston needs more housing stock, and it needs it now.

That’s the gist of Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn‘s call for Mayor Michelle Wu to roll back the city’s inclusionary zoning requirements for new development. The threshold used to be 13% earmarked for affordable housing, which changed to 20% in 2024. Flynn says those requirements are causing housing production to hit the breaks, making affordability worse in the city.

He’s right.

Last year’s “A Home for Everyone” plan from the Healey administration called for adding at least 222,000 new, primarily year-round, housing units in Massachusetts between 2025 and 2035.

According to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ Housing Needs Assessment, Metro Boston needs a 7.5% to 10% increase in housing stock to keep up with demand. That’s roughly 140,000 to 180,000 new units by 2035.

We need to get shovels in the ground ASAP.

“Following several years of post-pandemic inflation, a high interest rate environment, rising construction costs and tariffs, I believe it is long past time for elected officials and leaders in our city and state to acknowledge the reality that while we do not control many of the big picture economic conditions, we should do everything we can within our power to make any adjustments that will help spur development of housing and affordable units in our city,” Flynn wrote in a letter to Mayor Michelle Wu and Chief of Planning Kairos Shen.

Wu understands big picture economic conditions. In an interview with WBUR she noted that the cost increase for White Stadium was due in part to tariffs, steel prices and general inflation. Those same factors could be expected to affect housing production as well. We need, therefore, to up the incentive to build in Boston.

The housing crisis is hardly new. Back in 2018, then-Mayor Marty Walsh joined 14 members of the Metro Mayors Coalition in announcing a housing production goal.

“We are at a pivotal time in Greater Boston as our economy continues to grow and thrive, and more people move to our communities. As the region grows, we must ensure our cities and towns keep up with the demand for affordable housing, ensuring families can stay in the communities they love,” said Walsh. “Last month I increased Boston’s housing goal from 53,000 to 69,000 new units of housing by 2030.”

And now we need140,000 to 180,000 new units by 2035.

Wu is taking steps to boost housing production, such as last year’s $110 million housing accelerator fund meant to support housing projects already greenlighted but lacking the financing to begin construction.

But the need for new housing is huge, and immediate.

“If we’re producing less housing we’re also getting less affordable units for working families. Some housing is better than no housing,” said Flynn.

It can only help the housing crisis if we increase the stock. If we build it, residents will come, grow communities and increase the tax base.

City Hall has got to love that.

“It was awesome. Just being in the locker room with the guys, speak your native language, Finnish,” Jokiharju said of the Olympics. “I had family over there, too. My family came over, my brother’s family came over for a while, and my sister and her husband came over. It was, overall I will say, really one of the best two weeks of my life.”

Korpisalo filled one of the nets on Tuesday; Michael DiPietro, who was recalled from Providence on an emergency basis, was in the other. The Bruins have 16 games in March and are gearing up for the heavy workload.

“It feels pretty good. Getting back to the U.S. just a couple days ago, getting used to the timezone now. And throughout the tournament, a lot of practice, a lot of practice time. Just getting prepared, getting back to it,” Korpisalo said. “Whenever the coach gives me the nod, I’ll go in and do my best. Now is go time. This last stretch is huge. Seeing how many teams are within [such] close points. Every game is huge.”

The Bruins’ first game back is on Thursday at TD Garden when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are four points back from the B’s, fighting for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

It will be Boston’s first game action in 22 days; their last matchup before the Olympic break was on Feb. 4 against the Florida Panthers.

“It’s not just for us, I think, for everyone in this league, it is a challenge. You totally get away from the game and from the environment that we have here, but also, the good things that were happening around our team. The focus, the play, on ice, off ice. It was fun to watch,” Sturm said.

“That is going to be our focus again to have that game one on Thursday. Because you don’t want to lose that. We put ourselves in a very, very good position right now, and we don’t want to lose it. We want to stay in the hunt, and we want to continue to play the same way we did in the past.”

Incredible snowfall yesterday. It seemed like we were under a flour sifter with the stationary band of snow on the South Shore. Unrelenting snowfall rates of up to 4 inches per hour brought use near THREE FEET in spots! The week feels long when you start with a blizzard, but we’re digging out and moving on.

Heavy snow from yesterday will stick around for a bit, but with sunshine on our side, we’ll see slumping, settling, and melting today. Highs will only manage the low 30s as the airmass stays cold. More efficient melting is ahead tomorrow and Thursday, as two more weather systems slide our way.

But these aren’t blizzards. And they’re not big storms, either. We’ll see more of a rain/snow mix tomorrow with minor accumulations – mostly in the one-to-three inch range. The Thursday night storm is a bit trickier, with the potential for more snow. Track is uncertain at this point, with some of our guidance suggesting we miss the event entirely. 

As always, we’ll sort it out and fine tune the details in the days ahead.