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Tomorrow I’m proposing that Boston begin creating new public housing again. While federal “Faircloth Limits” prevent this elsewhere, in Boston we could still add 2464 more units! Let’s build on public land & buy/convert other private units for deep affordability. #bospoli #mapoli
Public housing secures public health. It keeps our families, seniors, & people with disabilities safely & stably in our communities, protected from homelessness in case of illness or job loss as we’ve seen thru COVID-19, and lets parents spend more on feeding & caring for kids.
We have MORE THAN 50,000 families on the @BHA_Boston public housing waiting list! We need more of this resource, even as the federal government has backed away from its commitment to ensuring every family has a safe and decent home.
Federal operating funds + the RAD program could make adding public housing in Boston financially sustainable long-term, but to build new units on public land, we still need capital funds — which is why it’s critical H.4115, to #liftlinkage & IDP, pass at State House this week!
In U.S. House, @AOC recently passed an amendment to repeal Faircloth Limits, so federal govt can begin to reverse its long-term disinvestment in public housing. Now stuck in Senate. But in Boston we don’t need to wait on Washington. We could add these public housing units now!
Public housing is key to keeping people of color anchored in the Boston neighborhoods that so many have grown up in & cared for. We can also site new units on public land in places where protected classes been historically excluded, thereby affirmatively furthering #FairHousing.
To build new PH units at scale, we need new sources: we should pass local Boston transfer fee (H.4514) @ State House & expand our City capital budget for more housing investment, as part of the $300m in new housing funds called for by @Kim_Janey’s Black & Brown Agenda for Boston.
If we combine a push back to Boston’s Faircloth Limit with the tools of @BostonNeighbor’s Acquisition Opportunity Program (AOP), & @BostonPlans Inclusionary Development Program (IDP), we can also use some of these units for deep affordability (<30% AMI) in private housing stock.
Now is the time to reinvest in PUBLIC HOUSING AS A PUBLIC GOOD. This pandemic underscores how badly we need #HousingForAll. That means housing for very low income folks too. Takes federal leadership, but Boston can act now by adding units up to our Faircloth Limit — so let’s go!
I’ll be speaking more about this in tomorrow’s @BOSCityCouncil meeting. Read my op-ed here in the Globe about this path to investing in more public housing for Boston: https://trib.al/vdumq4X
