Boston, MA
Editorial: Boston’s workers should be able to live here
![Editorial: Boston’s workers should be able to live here Editorial: Boston’s workers should be able to live here](https://www.bostonherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1209-nws-bhr-l-toppingoffas13.jpg?w=1024&h=681)
Who can afford to dwell in Boston?
In the event you work within the public service sector, chances are high good it’s not you.
Zumper’s nationwide lease report launched final month discovered Boston tied with San Francisco for second costliest nation for renters, with New York topping the checklist.
That is nice if you happen to snagged a job in finance or tech or another high-paying area, however for the center class, it means buying and selling a Boston zip code for a commute into city.
The tough realities of working for Boston whereas making an attempt to dwell right here have come to the fore as town tries to fill jobs in a decent labor market. The longstanding worker residency requirement isn’t wanting as doable because it as soon as was.
Because the Herald reported, Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration has softened residency in current months, most not too long ago by implementing a six-month waiver for brand spanking new law enforcement officials, and a number of other unions with open contracts are urging her to go even additional with everlasting adjustments lowering the requirement.
This being Boston, there are totally different views on the scenario and an answer.
Residency Compliance Fee member Eileen Boyle, of the pro-residency group Save Our Metropolis, stated of town’s current strikes, “I’m anxious as a result of it’s a slippery slope” towards taking out the requirement fully.
She stated town “must get extra artistic” with housing slightly than watering down residency as a result of, “We want those who perceive the folks they serve.”
Metropolis Councilor Kenzie Bok, who sits on the Residency Compliance Fee, stated she’s been in favor of momentary residency waivers as a “lever we will pull” within the brief time period.
Nonetheless, “residency stays a very essential part of feeling such as you’ve bought authorities for the folks by the folks,” Bok stated. In the long term, “The plain resolution to this isn’t rocket science: it’s wages.”
Housing or wages? For the employees affected by being priced out, it’s each.
Tom McKeever, president of SEIU 888, a union that represents a big swath of administrative employees together with the 911 staffers,informed the Herald that two-third of his members make underneath $45,000 in a metropolis with media one-bedroom lease above $2,000.
How a lot do you’ll want to earn to dwell right here?
Monetary info agency SmartAsset crunched the numbers, utilizing a rent-to-income ratio of 28% and town’s median lease of $3,073
A Boston renter, it discovered, would want to earn $114,739 a yr to afford a one-bedroom condominium, and $131,679 for a two-bedroom.
Rising wages is probably not “rocket science,” however the leap from $45,000 to $114,000 is astronomical.
The town skyline has grown with high-rise, high-end condos and expensive condominium buildings. The outdated neighborhoods the place center class employees may increase a household at the moment are stylish areas with nice foodie scenes and industrial buildings transformed to costly items.
Housing is taken into account “inexpensive” when a renter pays not more than 30% of their gross revenue for housing prices. With median rents in Boston tipping $3,000, affordability is now a luxurious.
The Metropolis wants to focus on wages, housing inventory and residency waivers if Boston is to be an amazing place to work – and dwell.
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Boston, MA
Boston falling behind rest of state when it comes to housing, Boston Policy Institute says
![Boston falling behind rest of state when it comes to housing, Boston Policy Institute says Boston falling behind rest of state when it comes to housing, Boston Policy Institute says](https://assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2022/05/17/8b9d324d-769e-4d6c-9801-3c61615a83e9/thumbnail/1200x630/838fff2859b8a23490deb0413a5d8e1e/boston-generic-2021-summer.jpg?v=f303dc12868a012283443d8b9123e5fe)
Once again, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has filed a bill asking the state legislature for permission to temporarily raise the commercial property tax rate beyond legal limits in order to deal with projected revenue losses tied to the sharp decline of commercial real estate values.
Wu’s tax bill based on Menino bill
We’re now entering year two of debate over this problem, which was initially made widely public by a report commissioned by the Boston Policy Institute, a new non-profit dedicated to analysis of city issues.
Institute Director Greg Maynard tells WBZ-TV that “The bill that Mayor Wu is supporting in the state Senate is actually based on something that was passed 20 years ago under Mayor Menino, and that was enabling legislation that let cities and towns all across Massachusetts choose to do the same thing that Boston is trying to do now. Mayor Menino got support from a whole bunch of mayors all over the state, as well as from Governor Romney, and so he was able to put together a coalition and really, really get that done, make the case that it was important. Mayor Wu, although she’s using the same legislation that Mayor Menino did 20 years ago, didn’t put anything close to that coalition together, and she didn’t get anything close to the coalition in terms of business leaders.”
The Mayor’s previous effort stalled in the Senate and a compromise with business leaders fell apart when it turned out potential tax hikes on residential property owners weren’t as severe as the city had forecast. But the relationship between the mayor and many elements of the business community has been rocky for some time, and we asked Maynard why. “I think an important part of it is, you can see the reaction from the Wu administration to BPI’s report last year. Our report came out, the mayor and members of her administration called it misinformation and said that it wasn’t true. And then shortly after that, offered this piece of legislation we’re talking about now, which is designed to solve the problem that BPI’s report identified.”
But Maynard notes: “I think that Mayor Wu’s tax bill actually brings up some really important questions about how Prop. 2 ½ [the state law limiting local property tax growth and establishing the two-tiered tax system for commercial and residential property] actually operates, and whether a split tax rate…[is] actually legal or constitutional.”
Housing enters mayoral race
Meanwhile, the 2025 Boston mayoral race is underway, with challenger Josh Kraft and Wu already engaging on issues like housing development.
On housing, Maynard says “the debate we’ve seen over the last two weeks in Boston shows how far the housing debate in the city has come. It’s really focused on supply, and so Boston is finally starting to move into a debate around how to build more housing, which is something the rest of the state has been engaged in for a long time. But Boston’s politics, for whatever reason, has been really resistant to talking about the core of the issue…the MBTA Communities Act [requiring communities served by the T to reform their zoning to allow for more multi-family housing] brings up a really important issue that I think is going to be addressed in this mayor’s race, which is that because of the MBTA Communities Act, there are communities around Boston that now have denser by-right development just on the other side of the line from Boston. So it’s tougher to build in Boston now than it is in the communities that surround it and some of the suburban communities…so towns like Everett and Revere have built way more housing as a percentage of their total stock than Boston…the state has legalized ADUs [accessory dwelling units], the city has not done that. They haven’t followed Cambridge’s lead, either with the parking minimum abolition or with this massive upzoning. And so Boston is really falling behind the rest of the state in terms of making it easier to build. The city’s made it more expensive to build with stuff like increasing inclusionary zoning and increasing environmental requirements, but they haven’t done anything to loosen restrictions like we’re seeing in communities here in Massachusetts and all across the country.”
Maynard also discussed recent developments in the city’s push to install bike lanes. You can watch the entire conversation here, and please join us every Sunday morning at 8:30 for extensive discussion of the key issues in the mayoral race and elsewhere across the region on the weekend edition of “Keller At Large.”
Boston, MA
Full outlook on winter storm
![Full outlook on winter storm Full outlook on winter storm](https://assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2025/02/15/21515e55-1529-4ecb-bff5-17265f6ed339/thumbnail/1200x630/4420dc76b700b33dd49f97cf382a7f06/6309acac705e3c12d96a599996e04dcf.jpg?v=f303dc12868a012283443d8b9123e5fe)
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Boston, MA
Red Sox’s Alex Bregman Gives 1-Word Answer On Joining Boston
![Red Sox’s Alex Bregman Gives 1-Word Answer On Joining Boston Red Sox’s Alex Bregman Gives 1-Word Answer On Joining Boston](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5903,h_3320,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/inside_the_red_sox/01jm2ye05zd9sr5av0xk.jpg)
The Boston Red Sox have another superstar in town.
Fans around Boston have been looking for the Red Sox to go out and make a big splash and the club did that this week by reportedly signing former Houston Astros All-Star Alex Bregman. He’s a two-time World Series-winner and will give the Red Sox exactly what they need from the right side of the plate.
Boston is lucky to have him and it seems like he’s excited to be in town too. This isn’t shocking after landing a three-year, $120 million deal. He arrived in Fort Myers with Spring Training kicking off and had a one-word answer when asked how it feels to be with Boston by WCVB CH5 Lead Sports Anchor Duke Castiglione.
“Awesome,” Bregman said with a thumbs up.
Before joining the Red Sox, he spent the first nine years of his big-league career with Houston. He was a two-time All-Star, two-time World Series, Gold Glove Award winner, Silver Slugger Award winner, and All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
It has been reported that the expectation is that Bregman will be the Red Sox’s starting second baseman in 2025. Spring Training is just kicking off and anything could happen, but an infield featuring him, Triston Casas, Trevor Story, and Rafael Devers certainly is exciting to think about.
Bregman had 26 home runs and 75 RBIs last season for the Astros 145 games played. He also had 4.1 wins above replacement. If he can stay healthy, the Red Sox are going to be contenders.
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