Boston Globe Editorial Suggests State Needs to Take Control of Housing Regs

The Boston Globe published an editorial on April 10, 2023 that detailed the long-reaching consequences of an important early twentieth-century law. In 1920, the state gave zoning and planning authority to cities and towns, which, the Globe says, resulted in many municipalities suppressing housing growth in an attempt to keep out renters and the lower classes, particularly in the Greater Boston area.As a result, the cost of housing in Massachusetts increased at a greater rate than the national growth. In Q4 of 2022, the median single family home in Boston cost $707,250, compared to $378,700 in the United States as a whole.In Boston proper, 46% of renters are considered rent-burdened (meaning they pay more than 50% of their monthly income on housing costs) and 110,000 people have left MA since the start of the pandemic. The Globe attributes this loss of population to the high cost of housing.What can be done? The Globe endorses more government intervention at the state level to encourage municipalities to dramatically loosen zoning restrictions - even when local officials argue against it. The Globe suggests that the Governor and AG should levy legal consequences on towns that don't comply.Read the article here: Boston Globe editorial 4.11.2023