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Neighborhood/City of Boston
From the 2002 Boston Indicators Report Archive:
UMass Boston Center for Social Policy reports on needs of the chronically homeless in Boston.
Metro Boston/Massachusetts/New England
Officer of State Auditor Joseph DeNucci, State Auditor's Report on the Physical Condition and Resources Allocated for the Operation and Upkeep of State-Aided Public Housing in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (pdf) (10/06): Reports that under funding of State sponsored public housing units has resulted in deferred maintenance and poor housing conditions.
Citizens' Housing and Planning Association, Housing Costs Continue to Outpace Incomes in Massachusetts and the US (pdf) (10/06): Analysis of 2005 American Community Survey data indicates that median housing costs have risen steeply in Massachusetts since 2000.
Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Sustaining the Mass Economy (5/06): statistical analyses show that housing costs are a major factor in economic development. Suggests that a small increase in housing supply would moderate price increases now, helping prevent large future price declines.
New England Public Policy Center, The Lack of Affordable Housing in New England (5/06): a regional analysis of housing finds that owner-occupied units are especially unaffordable in southern New England. Reviews government strategies and recommends policies to increase housing supply.
Rappaport Institute, Massachusetts' Hancock Case and the Adequacy Doctrine (pdf) (3/06): asserts that the "adequacy" doctrine of funding all school districts adequately to yield student achievement will likely give way to the "equity" doctrine, under which the gap in resources between rich and poor school districts will have to be closed.
Rappaport Institute, Guarding the Town Walls: Mechanisms and Motives for Restricting Multi-family Housing in Massachusetts (pdf) (3/06): a study of how municipalities in Massachusetts utilize land-use regulations, drawing on the new Massachusetts Housing Regulation Database.
New England Public Policy Center policy brief, An Overview of Chapters 40R and 40S: Massachusetts’ Newest Housing Policies (2/06): two recent laws provide financial incentives to increase the housing supply, and the author states that one cannot yet tell if communities will take advantage of the new policies and increase the local supply of housing.
Rappaport Institute, Creating an Anti-Growth Regulatory Regime: A Case from Greater Boston (pdf) (2/06): reviews land-use regulation in Arlington, Massachusetts, as a case study in change from a pro-growth system (approving residential projects in the 1960s) to anti-growth governance in the 1970s and beyond.
Rappaport Institute, Regulation and the Rise of Housing Prices in Greater Boston (pdf) (2/06): housing prices in Greater Boston have been rising, but supply has not matched it. The authors note that this is a poorly-functioning market, and assert that regulation -- not a lack of land -- has led to the relatively low supply of housing. They conclude with policy recommendations such as letting state or regional entities override local land-use decisions.
MIT Center for Real Estate and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, Housing Affordability Initiative - Land Use Research Findings (1/06): research examining all new residential construction in the Boston metropolitan area between 1998 and 2002 finds that the median lot size for newly-constructed single-family homes is 0.91 acres, up from 0.76 between 1990 and 1998. That is approximately twice the median lot size in the 1970s and 1980s, and the increased lot sizes are keeping real estate prices high.
Pioneer Institute and Rappaport Institute, Regulation and the Rise of Housing Prices in Greater Boston (1/06): a study of housing prices from 187 communities in eastern Massachusetts finds that municipal regulation is slowing the supply of new housing and raising prices.
Massachusetts Community and Banking Council, Changing Patterns XII (1/06): an analysis of home mortgage lending in Boston and the MAPC region from 1990 – 2004 shows that racial and ethnic disparities in loan approval and denial rates persist throughout Greater Boston.
Center for Urban and Regional Policy, the Boston Foundation and Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2004: An Assessment of Progress on Housing in the Greater Boston Area (pdf) (9/05): the third annual report on current market conditions; housing production in the region; rents, home prices and sales; affordable housing; and public spending support for housing. Finds that Boston now has the highest cost of living in the nation, driven largely by housing costs.
Commonwealth Housing Task Force launches its new website (7/05): details of the ongoing efforts to address the housing crisis in Massachusetts, including key reports, quarterly updates, and full text of general laws. Also visit the new TBF web special on housing.
MIT Center for Real Estate, Effects of Mixed-Income, Multi-Family Rental Housing Developments on Single-Family Housing Values (4/05): studies 7 large scale developments in Greater Boston, and concludes that the “introduction of large-scale, high-density mixed-income rental developments in single-family neighborhoods does not affect the value of surrounding homes.”
Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research and Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, Getting Home: Overcoming Barriers to Housing in Greater Boston (1/03): Greater Boston’s housing crisis, acquiring and using land, state codes and enforcement, local regulations and state policies such as 40B legislation.
Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Commonwealth Housing Task Force and the Boston Foundation, Chapter 40R: School Cost Analysis and Proposed Smart Growth School Cost Insurance Supplement (5/05): analysis of the projected effects of Chapter 40R housing construction upon local school costs.
US Census Bureau, State Housing Unit Estimates: 2000 to 2004 (7/05): annual estimates for individual states and the nation, including housing percent change and state rankings. Massachusetts units grew 1.9% between 2000 and 2004. Press release.
Center for Social Policy and the Boston Foundation, Partners in Prevention: Community-Wide Homelessness Prevention in Massachusetts and the United States (4/05): characteristics, successes, and challenges of six cross-organizational initiatives working on homelessness prevention.
Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), Analysis of the 2005 Subsidized Housing Inventory (1/05): housing affordability in Massachusetts' 351 communities.
From the 2002 Boston Indicators Report Archive:
New release: "The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2003: An Assessment of Progress on Housing in the Greater Boston Area." Download the full report or read the press release.
Report provides in-depth analysis of Greater Boston's housing crisis.
Housing Report Card finds continuing imbalances in supply and affordability in Greater Boston.
Report, recommendations to increase housing supply in Commonwealth released.
National
Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, America's Rental Housing: Homes for a Diverse Nation (2006) (pdf): Provides a wealth of data on America's renters, highlighting the ongoing importance of rental housing as the most important form of housing for low-income Americans.
Joint Center for Housing Studies, State of the Nation's Housing 2006(6/06): 2005 saw a softening in the housing boom, but long-term forces point to a moderate slowdown. Households (both homebuyers and renters) continue to face affordability problems.
Rappaport Institute, Why Are Smart Places Getting Smarter? (pdf) (3/06): regions with skilled workforces have faster growth of population and income than areas with less-skilled workforces. The rates of income growth apply to all workers, including those in unskilled jobs. The authors note that investments in education, safety, and housing make areas more attractive.
Joint Center for Housing Studies, The State of the Nation's Housing 2005 (6/05): data on housing markets, demographic trends, homeownership, rental housing, and housing challenges. Executive summary.
National Low Income Housing Coalition, Out of Reach 2004 (10/04): side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every US county, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), combined non-metropolitan area and state.
From the 2002 Boston Indicators Report Archive:
Access to education and services critical for homeless children, according to Horizons for Homeless Children.
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