Thomas Bentley

Massachusetts’ housing permitting system puts everyone in a bad position. Planning boards, staff, neighbors, and developers are often responding rationally to a system that fosters uncertainty, rewards delay, and makes housing more expensive. My new @BosIndicators report, “Delayed by Design,” looks at why.

Republican governors in Texas, Florida, Montana and Vermont have all backed efforts to make it easier to build more housing by reducing zoning, land-use or permitting barriers. Meanwhile, Massachusetts GOP candidate Mike Minogue wants to go in the opposite direction, repealing MBTA Communities, one of the state’s biggest zoning reform efforts in recent memory, while offering faster permitting for single-family homes only and incentives to eliminate stretch codes (which I agree are problematic). At a time when Republicans in other states are embracing housing production, Minogue’s signature proposal would roll back one of Massachusetts’ most consequential housing reforms.

Great local interview. marbleheadindependent.com/he…

“One of the reasons so many younger people have flocked to the pro-housing “yes in my backyard” movement is because they can see perfectly clearly the way that the Marbleheads of the world have blocked their own economic prospects — & they resent it.” - @BostonGlobe Ed. Board

“We’re not talking about skyscrapers. We’re talking about townhouses. Three stories. If you put one next to a single-family house, what’s the difference?” marbleheadindependent.com/he…

On its third attempt tonight, Marblehead Town Meeting approved an “MBTA Communities–compliant” district largely centered on the 125-year-old Tedesco Country Club, meeting 3A requirements on paper while all but assuring no new housing would be built. This comment says it all.