Boston and surrounding areas housing crisis

The city isn't building "nothing but luxury condos". Total number of the "luxury" units in the city of Boston? Around 3,736. Total. And that's including buildings that have been around since 1981. During the past ten years, 1,600 units have been built - 160 a year on average. Four of these projects are under construction now and will add 892 units by 2019.

Beyond that, nothing is in the pipeline except the projects at the end of Newbury St at Mass Ave, over the Pike.

The city has 275,000 - 280,000 housing units now.

These "luxury" units are 1.5% of the city's total housing stock.

They have no effect on anything else happening in the city.

If I've missed any luxury projects, please let me know. For this analysis, I picked any project where a significant number of units sell in excess of $2.5 million and where the buildings are larger in size. (So, no fifth-floor Comm Ave condos.)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fsPlo2s3gYcFNJCP53P56pQWFaKhbpZTbzbVv3XjqoY/edit?usp=sharing

KentXie said:
Oh look, another report showing that building nothing but luxury condos does nothing to alleviate housing prices. The city should be putting more emphasis on building affordable housing, even more than what's being built (which btw is borderline affordable).

https://www.bostonglobe.com/busines...ll:trending&s_campaign=bdc:globewell:trending
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If you like to study statistics on this subject as I do, you would find that Boston is still not building nearly enough housing for the jobs being created. That still is the root issue to the problem and why I think it's incredibly stupid to give incentives to business to "create jobs" unless there is adequate housing first.

It's not the insanely expensive condos, as much as they might be a symbolic middle finger to everyone struggling to make ends meet.
 
It's getting to the point that average jobs in around Boston that service everyday American Life around this area is not worth going to and wasting your time.

Retail, Restaurant, Grocery workers, Truck Drivers, General Workers cannot provide basic living expenses even if they worked 60 hours a week.

The cost of living in Boston has priced out the everyday working class.
It all comes down to 3 basic things---
#1 Record low Interest rates --Which has eroded the working class buying power
#2 Corporate tax incentives---that only favor the corporations which have destroyed small businesses
#3 Bailouts to the rich which have socialized losses on the backs of the majority of taxpayers

Boston/Cambridge has changed its very corporate and elitish. Its actually lost a lot of its Bostonian Character in most parts of the city.
Starbucks is talking about moving down the NORTH END. I hope the locals can hang on to whats left of that character.

its funny how most liberal democratic run cities have the most income inequality scenario.
California, Massachusetts, NYC and Illinois all Democrat states that your either Very rich or working poor.
 
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Jouhou said:
If you like to study statistics on this subject as I do, you would find that Boston is still not building nearly enough housing for the jobs being created. That still is the root issue to the problem and why I think it's incredibly stupid to give incentives to business to "create jobs" unless there is adequate housing first.
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I don't follow your logic. Not everyone who works in or around Boston needs to live in Boston. We have a housing crisis because everyone is trying to pack into the region inside Rt 128.

More jobs = more tax revenue = more money for transit = wider commuting area. If you have a way to time job creation to housing creation you're on your way to becoming a bazillionaire because that's a problem without a solution unless you have unlimited land to work with. Usually housing lags the jobs as a region heats up. Boston in that regard isn't dissimilar to a lot of other high flying economies.

TheRifleman said:
its funny how most liberal democratic run cities have the most income inequality scenario.
California, Massachusetts, NYC and Illinois all Democrat states that your either Very rich or working poor.
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As opposed to conservative places like Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and Kansas, we're you either 1) poor, or 2) really really poor but hey, the income inequality is low, right?!?! Seems there's a reason why the poorest states that take in way more than they pay are almost always Republican ones.
 
Rover said:
As opposed to conservative places like Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and Kansas, we're you either 1) poor, or 2) really really poor but hey, the income inequality is low, right?!?! Seems there's a reason why the poorest states that take in way more than they pay are almost always Republican ones.
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I'm not a republican either. They are bunch of hypocrites also. California and Mass is where the innovation come out and that is why there is so much creation of ideas.
California, Illinois are drowning in Pension debt that most likely they won't bring enough revenue to pay the pensions along with servicing the cities. So in reality ---maybe Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and Kansas should just start issuing unlimited pensions to their state & govt employees to balance out the poor to middleclass?

Its only a matter of time before that mathematics kick in that the cities will erode like Detroit/stockholm into bankruptcy.

That's why the splitting of California in 3 states got on the ballot not sure if it will pass.

I believe the printing of money which is backed by nothing is very evil & only encourages the unproductive to steal from the productive classes along with the continuing to make wrong decisions in society.
 
While pension reform is something that always should be looked into, it seems to me if pension costs were bankrupting California or Massachusetts they would have already turned into Kentucky or Mississippi. Beyond that, the middle class can thrive in Massachusetts provided they don't insist on living in downtown Boston or Wellesley or any other super pricey places. People don't have a Constitutional right to live wherever they please, which I fear too many people don't understand.
 
Anybody hear of this Air BNB? I actually heard Somerville is starting to loose residency because of the app. Multi-units that are becoming mini hotels.
 
Good to see Mayor Walsh recognizes the problem but city officials are STILL underestimating population growth:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/busines...ing-percent/Bqs0SPu9T6xiQUTSJFvrtN/story.html

Increasing new housing units to 69,000 is a good start, but it needs to go 100,000 by 2030. Original housing proposal of 53,000 new units was based on Boston hitting 700K population in...2030. We're already there 12 years early! Now the update is 760K by 2030 which would be a big slowdown in growth. I don't know if the city can count on that. Build baby build!
 
State Agencies need to be held accountable. They can't build housing but they can sure spend our money.

The state auditor’s office failed to address six-figure pay, a fleet of free cars and other expenditures at MassHousing in its last scrub of the quasi-public agency and refused to say if they will do so the next time.

“We can’t discuss any audit we may do,” said Mike Wessler, spokesman for Auditor Suzanne Bump, “but we will be conducting an audit of them in the coming future.”

MassHousing, charged with funding affordable housing in Massachusetts, is home to nine top staffers who earn $200,000 or more, as the Herald first reported yesterday.

More than 150 of the agency’s 375 employees make more than $100,000, payroll records show. And they all have access to a fleet of 18 Toyotas — mostly Camrys.
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Today's Boston herald
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2018/09/housing_office_gets_audit_pass

Seriously can you name a private organization that gives out a Pension, Great healthcare and you make 200K a year?
Its bad when the state and Federal workers make more money than the actual taxpaying working class they are supposed to answer to.
 
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TheRifleman said:
Seriously can you name a private organization that gives out a Pension, Great healthcare and you make 200K a year?
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Yes, banks where the job is similar to the positions in MassHousing... the herald is a joke.
 
dwash59 said:
Yes, banks where the job is similar to the positions in MassHousing... the herald is a joke.
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Isn't funny how the same industry got bailed out with a blank taxpayers check but continue to prosperous along with our Federal & State govt hacks. Nobody investigated or nobody goes to jail.

What a coincidence. Keep the party going on by eroding the purchasing power of the working class dollar and also creating the biggest disparity of the halves and half knots in history.

The Herald is Joke? Your a joke.
 
fattony said:
That would be a great band name
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It was an album apparently ...

The Gamits wrapping up 'The Halves and Half Knots'

Denver, CO's The Gamits have just about finished recording their comeback album, according to this post. Vocal tracks are being completed and the record will soon enter the mixing process.

The Halves and Half Knots will be the band's first new material since 2004's Antidote and is expected out this fall via Suburban Home Records.
 
Nah --- I prefer the name Political Thieves

Its got such a common theme.
200K a year, Free car, great healthcare, lifetime pension. Talk about a parasite living off the hardwork of a free country that is indebt TRILLIONS of dollars in stupidity.
 
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How are working class families supposed to keep up with these types of tax increases? Based on Zillow data
Property Taxes in Everett-up 33% from 2014

2018 $7,463 +6% $541,600 +11.1%
2017 $7,040 +10.4% $487,500 +10.5%
2016 $6,377 +5.6% $441,300 +6.7%
2015 $6,041 +7.9% $413,500 +11.1%
2014 $5,598 -0.7% $372,200 +3.3%
 
TheRifleman said:
How are working class families supposed to keep up with these types of tax increases? Based on Zillow data
Property Taxes in Everett-up 33% from 2014

2018 $7,463 +6% $541,600 +11.1%
2017 $7,040 +10.4% $487,500 +10.5%
2016 $6,377 +5.6% $441,300 +6.7%
2015 $6,041 +7.9% $413,500 +11.1%
2014 $5,598 -0.7% $372,200 +3.3%
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I mean, the property value goes up more every year than the taxes do. Which means tax rates are going down and the real concern is how working class families are ever supposed to buy homes.
 
A older Teacher was telling me it took an elementary school bus from Stoneham Ma--to the Museum of Science an 1 hour 1/2 to get there--- It used to be an 11Minutes bus ride

Boston has become LA concerning Grid Lock Traffic---- Thank you for not having any vision for our community.
 
TheRifleman said:
A older Teacher was telling me it took an elementary school bus from Stoneham Ma--to the Museum of Science an 1 hour 1/2 to get there--- It used to be an 11Minutes bus ride

Boston has become LA concerning Grid Lock Traffic---- Thank you for not having any vision for our community.
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No traffic google has it at 16-20 minutes, with full on rush hour estimates top out at 45 minutes. I think your older teacher might have been using a bit of hyperbole.
 
A straight shot from Stoneham to the MoS is about 8.8 miles. To cover that in 11 minutes you'd have to average 48 miles per hour over the entire trip. No way you can do that with lights, intersections, and small town/city streets at both ends, ESPECIALLY in a school bus full of children.

That time only sounds plausible for a rally driver in the middle of the night with little respect for the law.
 
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