https://www.srevilak.net/wiki/index.php?title=Abundant_Housing_MA_Panel_Discussion_-_Oct_27th,_2022&feed=atom&action=historyAbundant Housing MA Panel Discussion - Oct 27th, 2022 - Revision history2024-03-28T16:56:20ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.41.0https://www.srevilak.net/wiki/index.php?title=Abundant_Housing_MA_Panel_Discussion_-_Oct_27th,_2022&diff=1583&oldid=prevSteveR: initial revision2022-10-30T15:41:03Z<p>initial revision</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>This event was held at Suffolk Law in Boston. The panelists were<br />
<br />
* Prof. Vicki Been (NYU School of Law)<br />
* Prof. Anika Singh Lemar (Yale Law School)<br />
* Prof. Maxwell Palmer (Boston University)<br />
* Dr. Jenny Schuetz (Brooking Institute)<br />
<br />
Abundant Housing MA Board Chair Molly Goodman moderated.<br />
<br />
During the introductions, I learned that a team of 14 Suffolk Law<br />
students is working on developing a statewide Massachusetts Zoning<br />
Atlas. That will be a useful thing to have.<br />
<br />
(Molly Goodman) Ms. Goodman notes that Massachusetts is in the middle<br />
of a severe housing shortage. Fifty years after the passage of US<br />
fair housing laws, much of Massachusetts is still segregated by class<br />
and race.<br />
<br />
(Jenny Schuetz) Ms. Schuetz focuses on housing policy at a national<br />
level. Nationally, we are short three or four million homes.<br />
Production-wise this amounts to being around a decade in the hole. In<br />
some areas, we're more like 30--40 years behind in housing production.<br />
This shortage is largely due to policies enacted at the local level,<br />
and local governments outsourcing their authority to homeowners that<br />
don't want more housing.<br />
<br />
In the last three to four years, affordability has gone from being a<br />
coastal problem to being a much wider one. People are priced out of<br />
the areas where they live, then move to less-expensive areas, which<br />
raises prices there. The cost of under-building has the biggest effect<br />
on low- to moderate-income households. There's a huge climate impact<br />
to not building more housing in Boston, and to building housing in the<br />
wrong place. There's also a lot of pro-housing advocacy happening at<br />
the state level, which is relatively new.<br />
<br />
(Vicki Been) Ms. Been says the key problems are solving housing and<br />
land use issues. Affordability has been a problem in New York City<br />
for decades. New York set a goal to finance the rehabilitation and<br />
preservation, or construction of, 200,000 units of affordable housing<br />
over ten years. The city met that goal.<br />
<br />
Ms. Been sees four main issues. First, we need more land available to<br />
build housing. That can be done by rezoning for higher density, and<br />
using land owned by governments and religious institutions. Second,<br />
we have to reduce the cost of building, by reducing risk, and the<br />
number of veto points in the permitting process. Third, we have to<br />
ensure affordability, using tools like inclusionary zoning. Fourth,<br />
we have to address fears of displacement. This can be done by<br />
tackling the perception that more housing causes displacement, and<br />
enacting policies to prevent it.<br />
<br />
(Anika Singh Lamar) Ms. Lamar does community development work with<br />
groups of university students. They've helped clients through the<br />
process of proposing upzoning. They work with day care providers in<br />
municipalities that have tried to ban home child care. They also work<br />
with community-based housing developers.<br />
<br />
Ms. Lamar says she was asked to talk about some of the lawsuits that<br />
she and her students were involved in. They filed a case claiming<br />
that Woodbury, CT's zoning violated the state zoning act, because it<br />
doesn't promote housing choice or economic diversity. They have<br />
another case against Woodbury, claiming that the town's zoning<br />
violates the CT constitution's prohibition on discrimination. She<br />
says that Woodbury has also violated federal fair housing laws by<br />
discriminating against multi-family housing.<br />
<br />
(Max Palmer) Mr. Palmer's background is in political science, and he<br />
summarizes a few findings from his research. First, the people who<br />
participate in local hearings about housing tend not to be<br />
representative of the broader community -- they tend to be older,<br />
whiter, homeowners, and very much in opposition to new housing.<br />
Renters, people of color, and younger adults support much higher<br />
levels of housing density. What you hear really depends on who you<br />
ask.<br />
<br />
Second, exclusionary restrictions are discriminatory. For example, a<br />
community might build affordable housing with a restriction that only<br />
seniors can live there. Or there might be restrictions that give<br />
precedence to existing residents. This often means the housing is<br />
only available to white people who already live in the community.<br />
<br />
Finally, there's a real fragmentation in information. You might think<br />
it would be easy to answer the question "How many subsidized housing<br />
units are there in greater Boston?", but it's not. There's no one<br />
place that provides a complete detail of all the affordable housing in<br />
MA. We need better data in order to address this crisis.<br />
<br />
The panel moves into facilitated Q&A. (I think some of the questions<br />
were submitted by attendees ahead of the event.)<br />
<br />
(Molly Goodman) Ms. Goodman asks about luxury housing that's being<br />
built. She asks if all of these units are being filled.<br />
<br />
(Vicki Been) Ms. Been says this is a hard question to answer, since<br />
everyone defines "luxury housing" differently -- often as something<br />
they don't want or can't afford. Market rate housing has become<br />
luxury housing, because there's not enough of it. Some people do buy<br />
second or third homes in super-cities that attract wealthy people.<br />
But those homes aren't unoccupied; the owner just doesn't live there<br />
full time. She says that NYC's rent stability laws sometimes make it<br />
hard for owners to renovate and maintain their properties. Eventually<br />
those units deteriorate to the point where they can't be rented.<br />
<br />
(Molly Goodman) Ms. Goodman asks if we need more market rate housing.<br />
<br />
(Jenny Schuetz) Ms. Schuetz says yes, we need more. She tends to<br />
think of "luxury" as tied to land and location. We have luxury<br />
land, and the question is more about how many homes we're going to<br />
build on it. The best way to build more affordable housing is to<br />
build up. New construction is always more expensive than used. We<br />
can't build as many homes as the market would like, so what gets built<br />
is usually expensive.<br />
<br />
(Molly Goodman) Ms. Goodman asks if there's a unique right of<br />
enforcement in Connecticut's zoning enabling act.<br />
<br />
(Anika Singh Lemar) Ms. Lemar says the zoning act doesn't provide a<br />
unique right of enforcement, but the anti-discrimination clause in<br />
Connecticut's constitution is unique.<br />
<br />
(Molly Goodman) Ms. Goodman asks if Massachusetts should push for a<br />
housing elements plan, similar to what California has.<br />
<br />
(Jenny Schuetz) Ms. Schuetz says that state governments need to push<br />
local governments; you'll never achieve regional goals if you have to<br />
wait for each muni to come on board. State goals provide a clear<br />
picture, but only a handful of states have done this. Requiring more<br />
multi-family housing around transit is great, because that's where we<br />
need it.<br />
<br />
(Vicki Been) Ms. Been says it's really important to count, measure,<br />
and set goals. Measuring lets communities see what each other are<br />
doing.<br />
<br />
(Anika Singh Lemar) Ms. Lemar says the goal should be in the number of<br />
housing units produced, and not (say) the amount of money spent.<br />
<br />
(Molly Goodman) Ms. Goodman's next question is about the MBTA<br />
community requirements portion of Massachusetts's Housing Choice law,<br />
which requires communities to allow multi-family housing by right near<br />
transit. She asks if the panelists have any suggestions for advocates<br />
that support the MBTA requirements.<br />
<br />
(Maxwell Palmer) Mr. Palmer notes that some towns have been fighting<br />
the new requirements. He advises advocates not to let their towns<br />
delay implementation of the requirements. Push to get them done<br />
sooner, and don't let your community use delay tactics.<br />
<br />
(Jenny Schuetz) Ms. Schuetz says a lot of these policies depend on how<br />
the state comes up with numbers, and how prescriptive the requirements<br />
are. She thinks it's better for the state to provide target numbers,<br />
while giving municipalities some flexibility in meeting those targets.<br />
That leaves them with local control around how the target is met.<br />
<br />
(Molly Goodman) Ms. Goodman asks if there's a role for law professors<br />
to educate local officials.<br />
<br />
(Anika Singh Lemar) Ms. Lemar says she's lobbied for mandatory<br />
training for planning and zoning commissioners. Educate them about<br />
bias. She thinks that training should be mandatory and periodic; not<br />
just a one-time thing. Their decisions are complicated, and they have<br />
ramifications.<br />
<br />
(Maxwell Palmer) Mr. Palmer suggests that advocates get themselves on<br />
these boards. Some cities and towns struggle to find people who are<br />
willing to do the work.<br />
<br />
(Molly Goodman) Ms. Goodman asks whether we should continue to have<br />
public participation in these processes.<br />
<br />
(Maxwell Palmer) Mr. Palmer thinks that public participation is<br />
important. No participation has a downside, and we saw that during<br />
urban renewal efforts of the last century. Providing the public with<br />
too many veto points also has a downside. Our permitting processes<br />
favor abutters, and not the people who might live in new housing;<br />
they're an unknown group that we can't reach out to. Mr. Palmer<br />
thinks there should be a public process when zoning laws are created,<br />
but most things should be by right. He'd phase out public<br />
participation in project review.<br />
<br />
Now, we move on to taking questions from the audience.<br />
<br />
(Question) One attendee has a question about advocacy. Cambridge has<br />
a history of making progressive changes, which stick around for a few<br />
years, only to be rolled back by a later administration. Once you<br />
make a positive change, how do you get it to stick?<br />
<br />
(Anika Singh Lemar) Ms. Lemar says the work is constant. She suggests<br />
developing allies, even where you might not anticipate having them.<br />
Do the groundwork so that there are people willing to advocate when<br />
the time comes.<br />
<br />
(Vicki Been) Ms. Been says that advocacy is critical to helping<br />
government do the right thing, and to counter all of the negativity<br />
around new housing. Diversity of voices plays a vital role.<br />
<br />
(Jenny Schuetz) Ms. Schuetz says that advocacy is important for giving<br />
government the motivation to do things. It helps show support for<br />
policies.<br />
<br />
(Question) The attendees thinks that what the panelists have said<br />
about organization and advocacy is true. He asks if there are too<br />
many local democratic institutions. He often thinks that regional<br />
government bodies might do better, but maybe not. He asks what the<br />
panelists think about local democracies.<br />
<br />
(Jenny Schuetz) Ms. Schuetz agrees with the idea of moving public<br />
participation to policy discussions, rather that permitting. She<br />
thinks some decision making should be up to the state level. Having<br />
numbers to back up public opinion is also helpful.<br />
<br />
(Maxwell Palmer) Mr. Palmer gives LA and NYC as examples where there's<br />
one government, but there are still other forms of fragmentation. With<br />
the housing market, it used to be the case that people could vote with<br />
their feet; if they didn't like things in one community, they could<br />
just move to the next. These days, housing is expensive everywhere,<br />
and voting with your feet isn't a practical option.<br />
<br />
(Vicki Been) Ms. Been says the question of what level of government<br />
should do what is a very nuanced issue. Many state officials think<br />
like city councilors. They can be very parochial, thinking of their<br />
own voters and not much else.<br />
<br />
(Anika Singh Lemar) Ms. Lemar says that Connecticut has assembly<br />
members who are also mayors. Regulatory structures need enforcement<br />
to be effective. Ms. Lemar thinks there are opportunities for<br />
regionalization around things like transit, sewers, and<br />
infrastructure. She says "yes" to regionalism, but isn't quite sure<br />
what form it should take.<br />
<br />
(Question) The attendee says he often hears objections about changes<br />
to neighborhood character, and about falling home values. He asks if<br />
the panelists have suggestions for responding to objections over<br />
dropping home values.<br />
<br />
(Jenny Schuetz) Ms. Schuetz says that concerns about dropping home<br />
values are voice a lot. Value depends on class. For example, if a<br />
person owns a $2M dollar home in Wellesley, a 10% drop in their home<br />
value isn't the end of the world. They'll be left with a $1.8M<br />
house, and they'll be fine. The discussion is very nuanced, though,<br />
because people don't want their neighborhoods to change across the<br />
spectrum. You own your own home, but you don't own your neighbors.<br />
Housing has risks, just like any other financial asset.<br />
<br />
(Anika Singh Lemar) Ms. Lemar says that if you don't let buildings<br />
change, other things will. Getting people to talk about what they<br />
really like can be helpful.<br />
<br />
(Vicki Been) Ms. Been says that the building of wealth is what causes<br />
people to become risk-averse, and you have to confront that. Ms. Been<br />
says this is not limited to homeowners. People living in affordable<br />
housing can take NIMBY positions too.<br />
<br />
(Maxwell Palmer) Mr. Palmer says that home ownership changes peoples<br />
political behavior. Homeowner can be anti-renter, and sometimes<br />
renters are reluctant to vote because they don't own homes.<br />
<br />
(Question) An attendees asks how to change the mindset of NIMBYism.<br />
Especially the forms of NIMBYism that oppose communities of color.<br />
<br />
(Jenny Schuetz) Ms. Schuetz says that not all homeowners are NIMBYs.<br />
A lot of people haven't thought about housing as a policy issue, and<br />
they can be talked to and won over.<br />
<br />
(Vicki Been) Ms. Been says that developers are thinking more about how<br />
to build community. Policy makers need to be aware of how to<br />
influence that. NIMBYism isn't just about homeowners; it's about<br />
where people's financial stakes are. Tenants living in<br />
rent-restricted housing can be as much NIMBY as homeowners.<br />
<br />
(Anika Singh Lemar) Ms. Lemar says that the history of housing policy<br />
can be useful. For example, a community might have built a lot of<br />
homes on quarter-acre lots, but changed to a two-acre minimum years<br />
later. When did that change happen and why, and what else was going<br />
on at the time? Some people are really turned off by this history,<br />
but some find it very interesting. Dig in to when down-zoning happened<br />
and why.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Notes]]</div>SteveR