Part 3: Housing Affordability
Part 3 of a series on my priorities as a first-time candidate for Cambridge City Council. Next: Part 4: Sustainable Transit
Cambridge is a vibrantly diverse community of inventors, artists, students, front-line heroes, teachers, business owners, and more. Our staggering occupational diversity fuels our creative powerhouse. This vital diversity, however, can be drained when a booming local economy causes skyrocketing housing demand and prices. Market forces drive out all but the wealthiest who can afford to live here, who are then left with privileged access to our economic opportunities and resources. Both upward and downward spirals result, worsening inequality.
This is about equity and inclusion. It’s also about the ability of our city to function as a creative and innovation powerhouse. New ideas are a direct reflection of the community from which they are born. In a place like Cambridge where ideas have transformative and global impact every single day, inclusion in our city is akin to having a seat at the table in influencing ideas that may well shape our future. The social and scientific innovations in our city are simply too important to take shape in a gilded bubble, detached from the realities of ordinary people.
It is vital that a diverse community defines and envelops our creative and innovation industries, since all must be at the table as we continue to grapple with who, exactly, benefits from the innovation that takes place here. This is a core question, not just for the future of Cambridge, but for us all.
For these reasons, we need to make deliberate investments in affordable housing options in every area of our city. Policy mechanisms such as the Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) and developments like the proposed 2072 Massachusetts Avenue affordable housing initiative are indispensable to realizing this vision. In addition we should also experiment with as many other promising policy mechanisms as possible to facilitate this end.
- Abundant, Transit-Oriented Development
We need to support more housing in a way that encourages walkability, use of public transit, and minimal commutes. This enables the most efficient use of our very limited real estate and reduces traffic congestion. It also enables residents to better benefit from living and working here and facilitates a vibrant, healthy, sustainable, and accessible community.
Consequently, I would like to update zoning to allow small-scale multi-family housing like triple-deckers, four-plexes, and six-plexes in Cambridge, which would help provide flexible living options for families. I would additionally like to update height and setback requirements for new housing from its legacy standards to accurately align with current building norms, enabling appropriate density. We should especially focus development around major transit hubs (subways, bus, and bike hubs) to encourage sustainable transportation.
2. Prioritizing Affordable Housing Development
I supported the Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO), which makes it easier to provide affordable living options citywide. I also support affordable housing initiatives like the proposed 2072 Massachusetts Avenue development. I believe these enable continued accessibility of our city’s rich opportunities to people of all walks of life, which speaks to our core values as a community. I believe we must additionally prioritize development of affordable housing options throughout our city through publicly financed social housing on underutilized city-owned lots, increased inclusionary zoning, and homeownership programs.
3. Addressing Homelessness
In among the wealthiest cities, states, and countries on earth, the state of our homeless community — especially during the pandemic — is unjustifiable. I support a housing first approach embodied by the Right to Shelter initiative that has already made significant progress in providing unused, non-congregate space to residents in need supported by federal grants.
4. Experimenting with Land Trusts
One approach to enabling more stable, affordable options in volatile housing markets is to separate the speculative value of land from the actual price of a house. The City of Cambridge can allocate public land for use by groups of individuals to administer as land trusts, where houses are rented out but the land itself is owned by these groups. Since the property’s price no longer includes the land, it can be sold or rented separately at considerably cheaper rates than on the open market.
5. Experimenting with Social Ownership/Limited-Equity Coops
Social ownership involves long-lasting organizations with an emphasis on cultivating social and community benefits rather than centering profit. Such programs deserve our consideration and should be supported by the city.
6. Student Housing
The City Council should negotiate with local universities to ensure they provide adequate housing for undergraduate and graduate students, which will alleviate pressure on the housing market.
7. Support for Tenants
I support ensuring every tenant has affordable access to legal counsel in housing court, which balances the field in negotiations with landlords during and outside of eviction cases. I would also like the city to explore investing in affordable mediation services. An efficient, easier-to-navigate application system for affordable housing, flexible loan options for those of low income, financial planning support, and accessible home ownership programs would also benefit tenants. I also support creating a public database of the rental market, which will facilitate transparency for both tenants and landlords.
8. Compensation for Board and Commission Positions
Right now planning boards and related groups are disproportionately wealthier, older, male, and longtime resident homeowners. This nonrepresentative background likely biases decisions related to new housing development in ways that do not reflect the overall preferences of the community. I support converting participation on such boards and commissions into paid positions to enable those of lesser means to participate, thereby adding diversity of perspective to these bodies.
