Neighborhood orgs pressure Hub on housing crisis

The city’s use of public land came under question yesterday as neighborhood organizations made their cases for why affordable housing, open space and cultural activity must be included in development plans.

At a hearing for land disposition and stewardship, organizations such as Reclaim Roxbury, the Chinese Progressive Association, South End Housing Initiative and the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative testified that their communities need to be preserved and displacement needs to be addressed, as Boston goes through an economic boom and a rising population.

City Councilor Michelle Wu, who is the chairwoman of the planning, development and transportation committee, told the Herald that the city must “push themselves to take every opportunity” to maximize affordable housing for its residents.

“We in the city have limited tools to address the housing crisis, economic inequality, and all of the challenges we’re really trying to fight every day,” said Wu. “So, where we do have control, we need to exercise that to the fullest. So, when we own the land, we have complete control of what happens to it, and we need to be squeezing every possible civic benefit out of that for the community.”

The hearing was centered around how public land is utilized. With an increase in development and limited open spaces around the city, neighborhood representatives want to make sure development choices are serving the needs of their communities.

“We have to ensure that precious public land is used to stabilize our neighborhoods and benefit our communities,” said Sharon Cho, coordinator of Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network, which is a part of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative.

On Tuesday, the city announced it was adding 16,000 more housing units by 2030 than it originally planned because of an overwhelming rise in population. Officials say that 20 percent of the housing units will be income-restricted.

But City Councilor Lydia Edwards, who sponsored yesterday’s hearing, says the city’s 13 percent IDP, or Inclusionary Development Policy, which leverages private development to preserve access to affordable housing, can be higher.

“There has to be intentionality in our city planning when it comes to affordable housing,” Edwards said. “For a lot of us right now, the question is ‘How do we streamline community ownership in the land disposition conversation?’”

Added Wu: “You ask anyone who’s trying to move into Boston or buy a home right now and I haven’t found a single person who said ‘It was easy, I found something in my budget, and it was a smooth process.’ We are in the midst of a housing crisis, and it’s a large problem that has a lot of different factors to it.”