Tag: affordable housing
-
Fighting For The Right to Rent
On a bright afternoon in early June, I meet Sarah (her name has been changed to protect her identity), a renter in Metro Vancouver and organizer with the newly formed Vancouver Tenants Union. Sarah is a mother of two, who relocated to the West Coast from eastern Canada. Since arriving in Vancouver, she has struggled…
-
Residents Rally Against Federal Cuts, Call for Affordable Homes
Hundreds of residents from across Massachusetts gathered in front of Faneuil Hall on Monday, July 31 to take a stand against President Trump’s proposed cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and to make a plea to Congress to increase funding for affordable homes. The Trump Administration is looking to cut the…
-
“I Will Roll My Sleeves Up”: Mayoral Hopeful and City Councilor Tito Jackson Talks Housing, General Electric and Working-Class Boston
Photo: Alejandro Ramirez When Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson announced he was running for mayor—the sole challenger facing incumbent Mayor Martin J. Walsh—he presented himself as a champion of Boston’s working class. A working class that’s being forced out of their homes and their city, he said, while companies like General Electric get $25 million…
-
Plan JP/Rox passes after tense meeting and two day sit-in
All photos: Alejandro Ramirez After a public meeting full of disruption from affordable housing advocates and a nearly 48 hour sit-in at the mayor’s waiting room, the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) passed the contested Plan JP/Rox development plan. Advocates, mostly from Jamaica Plain’s Keep It 100% for Egleston, packed the hearing on Thursday…
-
City of Cambridge moving inclusionary zoning amendment into law
Cambridge has created 100 units of affordable housing over the past year, a trend it is looking to continue and build upon in 2017. The Cambridge city council hopes to increase the percentage of affordable housing to 20 percent of the city’s total residential housing units by June of this year. Cambridge implemented inclusionary zoning,…
-
Mayor Walsh Makes $14 Million Available for Affordable Housing
Mayor Marty Walsh made $14 million available for affordable housing projects on Sept. 15, the mayor’s office said in a press release. The funding will be available through the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development via two $7 million competitive Requests for Proposals, the mayor’s office said. Walsh aims to create 6,500 units of affordable housing…
-
Evicted: Matthew Desmond’s bestseller chronicles extreme poverty and the struggle to find and keep stable housing
Photo: Michael Kienitz The government has been telling people that the economy has been making a steady but slow recovery from the Great Recession nine years ago. During most months over the past few years, the unemployment rate has suggested a rosy picture of job growth. GDP has slowly improved. The housing market has heated…
-
Affordable Housing and Healthcare Facility Opens in Jamaica Plain
For nearly a decade, Jamaica Plain residents grew accustomed to passing by the vacant building at 459 Walnut Ave. until it was given new life by the opening of the Francis Grady Apartments on April 30. Combined with the Stacy Kirkpatrick House, the affordable-housing unit provides on-site health care to its 30 residents, taking an…
-
HOMEWARD BOUND: Housing chief and adovcates demand more funding
At a Boston City Council budget hearing on May 5, the mayor’s chief of housing and local advocates called for increased funds to the housing budget—albeit in different ways. Councilors first heard from Sheila Dillon, Boston’s chief of housing and director of the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND). Dillon, on behalf of Boston Mayor Marty…