2025 Boston Mayoral Race

O'Brien entering the race certainly raised my eyebrows. I had heard that Kraft was "the real deal" but he sure wasn't acting very "literate" in Boston politics.

O'Brien has walked the walk, in my opinion (I love using idioms, I guess) so I'm interested in how he proceeds.

Is there any proof other than a person who just joined archBoston that he wants to eliminate "affordable housing requirements"?

Of course, a post of mine wouldn't be complete without criticizing the Boston Globe, a paper I never read.

For reasons unknown to anyone but the three reporters on the story:

O’Brien would be Wu’s second notable Democratic challenger in this year’s mayoral race, after Josh Kraft, a longtime nonprofit leader and son of billionaire Patriots owner Robert Kraft, officially tossed his hat in the ring on Feb. 4.
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Versus what? The race is nonpartisan.
 
BronsonShore said:
In certain ways, sure. Removing parking minimums and rewriting the zoning code would make thngs easier for real estate deveopers, and Wu is actively doing both. She also overhauled the personnel on the ZBA to make it much more hospitable to a lot of gentle density developments in the outer neighborhoods that had frequently been rejected under previous administrations. And her focus on improving transit has plenty of positive secondary effects on real estate development. Unquestionably she has done things to make it easier to develop certain types of real estate.

But what the developers like O'Brien really want her to do is eliminate affordable housing initiatives. And I would not call that a big win at all.
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I read somewhere that new housing development in Boston has collapsed since Wu came into office, maybe fallen by 50% or more? I'm sure interest rates have something to do with that but at the same time Wu has raised costs substantially with her affordability increase and "green" taxes on new buildings. I don't think she can claim to be pro-housing development at all if those numbers are correct.
 
Are there new taxes on green buildings that the mayor has put in place during her tenure? Has Brookline or Quincy done a better job building housing over the last 4 years? If we’re just asking questions these are a few I’d have.

There’s a lot more that any mayor could do to stimulate building (mostly unpopular upzoning that neither Wu nor Kraft will enthusiastically support) but the adaptive reuse of downtown office buildings is an explicitly good policy that seems to be bringing a few hundred new units to market.

Interest rates and now increased construction material costs are going to be massive headwinds especially in cities with expensive land. A recession won’t help things either. Macro forces are very real
 
Justbuildit said:
Are there new taxes on green buildings that the mayor has put in place during her tenure?
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Tax might not be the right word but I believe they are referring to this: https://www.boston.gov/news/mayor-m...passage-groundbreaking-net-zero-carbon-zoning

EDIT: I said it before on here when it was originally announced, but the best way to achieve emissions goals is to make it as easy as possible for people to live in Boston and the inner core. This is one more thing that makes it more difficult and runs counter to those broader climate goals.
 
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KCasiglio said:
Tax might not be the right word but I believe they are referring to this: https://www.boston.gov/news/mayor-m...passage-groundbreaking-net-zero-carbon-zoning

EDIT: I said it before on here when it was originally announced, but the best way to achieve emissions goals is to make it as easy as possible for people to live in Boston and the inner core. This is one more thing that makes it more difficult and runs counter to those broader climate goals.
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You're right, "taxes" is not the correct word. My understanding is that Wu has increased environmental requirements or regulations on new residential buildings that will substantially increase the cost of building those units. These increased costs, coupled with higher interest rates, have caused a big drop-off in new housing in Boston.
 
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