Help Plan Affordable Housing in Gilman Square On March 12, Just-A-Start and the Somerville Community Land Trust will host a meeting for neighbors to discuss their plans to build a fully affordable building at 297 Medford Street in Gilman Square. They’ll go over the design and project timeline and…

No Vacancy Have you had a landlord ask you to do something they’re supposed to handle, like shoveling snow or dealing with a rat infestation? Have they ever dragged their feet on important repairs or charged illegal fees? Have you ever shaken your fist and then given up because, although you’re in…

Affordable Housing Makes Progress We have two pieces of very promising news about affordable housing for you. First, Just-A-Start has secured financing and begun construction work on their 24 Webster Avenue project, which will create 43 deeply affordable rental homes in a 6-story building. That’s…

The Displacement Time Bomb Over the last 50 years, Massachusetts has focused on high-income job creation. It started with the “Massachusetts Miracle” and continued with the growth of Kendall Square as a technology hub. The latest addition to our “brain factory” has been the boom in biotechnology…

Copper Mill, ADUs, and Dormers Join the Davis Square Neighborhood Council We strongly encourage all eligible readers to join the Davis Square Neighborhood Council and contribute to the ongoing Copper Mill discussion. The Council is moving swiftly toward full recognition from the city, and will…

Is Somerville Full? Everyone knows that Somerville is one of the densest cities in New England, with around 19,000 residents per square mile. Some folks use that number as a reason to say “we’re full, go away.” That’s not exactly welcoming to newcomers, especially not to those fleeing other states…

Support Housing in Davis Square Boston-based real-estate company Copper Mill is seeking permits to redevelop the area between The Burren and Dragon Pizza in Davis Square. Their latest proposal includes ground floor retail, a promised right of return for the Burren, and a lot of housing: 502…

YIMBY Stands with Immigrants YIMBYs are advocates for construction of housing because we want people to live in homes. We are advocates for housing in Somerville because we are advocates for Somerville. To us, that means helping people be part of Somerville, so we can all thrive and grow together.…

Davis Square 40B update, Fair Housing Commission opening Apply for the Fair Housing Commission The city is recruiting new members of the Fair Housing Commission, and we strongly encourage members to apply. The commission generally meets one evening per month, with additional meetings and events as…

Displacement versus Displacement Most of our subscribers probably know someone who’s been displaced, or forced to move. Maybe their lease ended, the rent went up, or in some cases their building has been condemned and must be torn down. In general, good housing and urban development policy aims to…

Build Baby Build, But How Much? We know that building a lot more housing can bring down prices. We’ve seen evidence around the globe, from Austin and Minneapolis to as far away as Auckland, or as near as Jersey City and New Rochelle, where we have seen major impacts on affordability from new…

Housing is Moving Forward 2026 is starting off with a bang in Somerville’s housing! Mayor Wilson’s inauguration had a lot of discussion of the affordability of housing. Then this week 2 projects took a major step forward. In Union Square, the Just a Start 100% Affordable project at 24 Webster Ave…

What Kinds of Housing Do We Need? Somerville’s recent Housing Needs Assessment (HNA) is an analysis of the current state of housing in the city, and provides useful information about the types of housing Somerville needs to accommodate our changing demographics and population pressures. Home sizes…

What’s Bringing Down Rents, and Where? A few bright spots for you as we close out the year: the financial press has noticed that Luxury Apartments are Bringing Down Rents in Some Big Cities. In Boston specifically, we’ve seen that bike lane initiatives are working to reduce traffic and pollution,…

A Tale of Two Lots I was traveling around Somerville and ran into what looked like a gut renovation of an entire lot at 38 Laurel Street in the Spring Hill neighborhood. And my first thought was: could this have been more? 38 Laurel Street, Circa 2025 This seems like fairly serious construction,…

In the Weeds Zoning has always been a reflection of the people’s desire to control how their environment looks, which is another way of saying it’s an expression of our city’s values. One value many of us share is to have a local environment that is greener and more environmentally friendly. That…

I am the Very Model of a Modern Major Upzoning How Somerville creates "missing middle" housing I am the very model of a modern major upzoningI've information efficiency, density, and filteringI know the price of homes, and I quote the cause economicalFrom Austin to Minneapolis, in order…

Mayor Wilson Transition Survey & Other News We hope you’ve been enjoying our recent series of data-driven essays on planning and policy — if you’ve missed them, you can find them at newsletter.somervilleyimby.org. Our next piece will take a look at what happens when a single lot in a typical…

Where Did the Demand Come From? We at Somerville YIMBY talk a lot about the need to supply more homes to solve our housing shortage. But supply is only half the economic equation. We also need to ask ourselves where all this demand came from. Why have we seen such large increases in the cost of…

What Would SB 79 Look Like Here? Hi, all! Over the past two years, we have been working on an upzoning proposal for Somerville. With an new city council in 2026, it feels like a good time to move forward on it. In support of that effort, we hereby start a roughly weekly blog post series about…

Action Alert: Starter Homes, Dormers, & Working Groups Get Involved: Join a Working Group Would you like to be more involved with Somerville YIMBY, but aren’t quite sure where to start? Join one of our new working groups to discuss: Elections: How did we do in the 2025 election? What could we do…

🏡 Help us get more housing on the 2026 ballot! Join AHMA, Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem, and the Legalize Starter Homes Ballot Initiative for a Day of Action this weekend! tinyurl.com/2sk34xt9

Congratulations to Our New Electeds Congratulations to mayor-elect Jake Wilson, and to new and returning members of the city council. While we did not endorse Jake Wilson for mayor due to his restrained support for our zoning proposals, we look forward to collaborating with him and supporting his…

Not Just Election News The big news on the election front is that Sen. Ed Markey has endorsed Willie Burnley Jr. — and early voting is on now! Be sure to vote this week or next Tuesday. Check hours and locations at somervillema.gov/elections. Canvassing with Jon Link (left) and Ben Wheeler (2nd…

Immigrant Solidarity Rally, Elections, Community Meetings Canvassing with Jon Link (left) and Ben Wheeler (2nd from left) We’ve been out canvassing and we hope you’ll join us for the last few days of the campaign season to help get out the vote for: Mayor: Willie Burnley, Jr. At-Large: Scott…

🎉 YOU’RE INVITED 🎉 Join us this Wednesday, October 15th from 7-9PM at The Jungle for my Birthday Party & Fundraiser 🥳 Stop by for some food, music, and fun! Campaign contributions are encouraged, but not required. No one will be turned away! 🎤 Warm up your vocal cords—it’s also open mic night!

Join neighbors TONIGHT, October 13th, at 6 PM at the Cummings Center room 270 for a proactive conversation about development in Davis Square! Talk with fellow square residents and workers about what we want out of Davis Square development projects. Hosted by and only by the DSNC.

Weekend canvassing & upcoming events This weekend we’ll be out canvassing with Jon Link and Ben Wheeler. We hope you’ll join us! Canvassing with Willie Burnley, Jr. Canvass with Jon Canvass with Ben We also encourage you to help our other endorsed candidates with time and/or money if you can:…

Come out this weekend and get out the vote for Jon, one of our endorsed candidates for city council at large!

Two great events on Wednesday 10/8 We’ve got dueling events on Wednesday October 8, and we hope to see you at one of them! Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability Please join A Better Cambridge and Somerville YIMBY on October 8 for a panel discussion on Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability…

Panel on October 8: Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability, from National to Local Please join A Better Cambridge and Somerville YIMBY on October 8 for a panel discussion on Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability From National to Local. Speakers include: John Infranca of Suffolk Law and Jake…

October is Canvassing Time Do you like talking with people? Even if you don’t, would you be willing to have a few short conversations anyway? Somerville YIMBY is knocking on doors and making calls for our endorsed candidates, and we need your help. Wear your Somerville YIMBY shirt if you’ve got…

Single-stair reform would be a huge win for building abundant homes in MA, and especially for allowing more family-friendly homes to be built!

Somerville CLT & Just A Start have acquired 297 Medford St to build a 100% Affordable project! Congrats to both organizations, we look forward to supporting this effort 🎉

And now everything is (unofficially) counted for the preliminary here in Somerville. Some 100 votes remain to be hand counted, election officials say. Jake Willson seems to have 42 percent of the mayoral vote. #Somerville

Preliminary Election Day is Today! The Somerville preliminary election is today, September 16. Elections like this have low turnout, so your vote is especially important. The next few years will be very important for the city’s overall direction and growth, so please be sure to show up and vote…

Hey folks! Abundant Housing MA IEPAC is having a fundraising house party this coming Wed. Sept 17 in Somerville, and we’d love to see you there! Register here: actionnetwork.org/events/ahma-... #MApoli #VilleMA #SomerPoli

Early Voting Starts Today: Why We Support Willie Burnley Jr. Somerville needs more housing and more staff with living wages. Willie Burnley, Jr. is the best choice for mayor to solve these problems. In the Somerville YIMBY survey this summer, we asked candidates: “Our neighbors in Cambridge have…

With early voting starting tomorrow, it's great to have the support of @somervilleyimby.org in my race to become the next Mayor of Somerville! We can elect a pro-housing movement focused on ensuring Somerville has economic diversity and housing stability. Join us: linktr.ee/WillieforSomerville

Sept 5 2025 Social: Canceled! Hey folks! This Friday’s social, Sept 5, is canceled to avoid conflicting with the Mayoral Forum on Libraries and Schools:

What exactly counts as transit oriented? For many months now, Somerville YIMBY has been working with city councilors and city staff on a broad proposal to update Somerville zoning citywide. This summer, residents have been especially keen to discuss upzoning, and some have suggested that…

Catie Gould and Kate Brunette Kreuzer were on the frontlines of two of the biggest state pro-housing wins in the country so far. They built meaningful connections with coalition partners and leveraged hard-earned expertise from prior years to get it done in the Evergreen State. Hear their story:

Action alerts: Send an email, have a chat Write to the Planning Board Last Thursday, the Planning Board reviewed a proposal to build a small apartment building at 675 Somerville Avenue. This modestly sized three-story building would be built and operated by a local family business. It’s replacing…

Excited to canvass for @willieburnleyjr.bsky.social after the @bostondsa.org General Meeting tomorrow! I’ve organized with Willie since his 1st campaign. From ending forced brokers’ fees to curtailing surveillance tech, he’s been a partner. And he’ll be a great Somerville Mayor. Prelim is 9/16!

I'm so pleased to have the endorsement of @somervilleyimby.org and @gblcboston.bsky.social! More are on the way - you can find all of our endorsements at www.willmbah.com/endorsements

Take action to support housing Do you like talking with people face to face? Even if you don’t, would you be willing to have a few short conversations anyway? Somerville YIMBY is ready to start knocking on doors for our endorsed candidates, and we need your help. Wear your Somerville YIMBY shirt…

We love to see these sorts of awesome safety & livability improvements!

Happy to report that the Somerville YIMBYs have endorsed me. I’m excited to help bring more housing (esp. affordable) to our city through upzoning around transit hubs and supporting the amazing work of orgs like the Somerville Community Land Trust. Let’s work together to make good things happen.

I'm proud to have earned the endorsement of @somervilleyimby.org as the housing candidate for Mayor. As Mayor, I will continue to fight for renters, to build more housing, and to ensure affordable and accessible units are available to keep our neighbors in this place we call home!