To understand local housing politics over the past several decades, consider a recent study out of Boston University. Political science professor Katherine Levine Einstein surveyed all of the minutes for zoning and planning meetings about housing across 97 cities and counties in Massachusetts…
“In every single city and county we studied, the advantaged dominated the proceedings,” Einstein said at a recent Brookings Institution panel on housing. Residents who are older, men, longtime residents, local voters, and homeowners are much more likely to participate in these meetings. And they are much more likely to oppose new construction than the general public.
During every special permit process in Newton (and other municipalities) comes a time when the project’s developer seeks to hammer out an agreement with (in our case) the city council that will earn them the needed 2/3rd votes to move forward. Typically, this includes...
I am excited to announce that we will explore preserving the National Guard Armory building on Washington Street at the edge of West Newton Square and repurposing it as 100 percent affordable housing so more people of modest means can make this good city of Newton their home. The commonwealth is willing to sell the building to the city for $1 only if it is used for affordable housing, a use in which I believe deeply, and which also allows the city to control what happens to this important building.
On Tuesday, April 9th, at 7:00 PM, the City Council’s Land Use Committee will hold a public meeting to discuss critical traffic and parking impacts that would emanate from the proposed 800-unit Northland development project on Needham Street. Over the past...
Ward 6 City Councilor Brenda Noel shared this with her constituents and with Village 14. Dear Constituents, As you may have heard, the current City Council has been charged with the exciting and challenging task of working with the Fuller administration to update our...
Here’s a letter Rev. Howard Haywood recently wrote to the mayor and city council that a reader shared with Village 14. To: Mayor Fuller and The City Council From: Rev. Howard Haywood RE: The Important Need to Revise Newton Zoning Now Exactly four years ago I...
Tuesday’s Land Use Committee meeting had two interesting agenda items on its agenda – the presentation of the Northland project and the final committee vote on Cypress Tree, the proposed medical marijuana clinic on Route 9 — and, thankfully, NewTV recorded it all!
The Cypress Tree debate and vote starts at the 27:45 mark
The Northland presentation begins at the 72:55 mark
A new study by a team of researchers at Boston University uses data from public meeting minutes to explore whether or not those who participate in public comment periods reflect the larger community’s views when it comes to housing. There’s a lot of data here so you...
