If you are interested in housing in Boston, check out this debate recording and the written responses to AHMA's questionnaire. It is the least rhetorical, most in-depth look at where Councilors & Council candidates stand on the policies that can really move the needle on housing. #mapoli #bospoli

The #1 thing I have learned about housing policy is that housing is too expensive & supply is limited because *people make it that way.* Some of that is active NIMBY opposition; some is a simple failure to fix broken rules like the one below.

Very useful thread - just take the caveats seriously.

Hey @fortpointer.bsky.social this is something you pay close attention to: was CLF wrong in 2024? Have things changed in 2025? A more cynical person might conclude your concern abt climate change is b/c you’re a political partisan looking to score points, not genuine interest in the issue.

While the facts are rarely a match for right-wing fearmongering, it is still worth noting that local officials *already have* the power to block SB 9 projects where they believe they will have "a specific, adverse impact on health and safety."

For a great example of ‘joint planning” is hard’ check out today’s fight pitting @mass.streetsblog.org & @transitmatters.bsky.social against - for different (bus lanes vs bus drivers) but related reasons - MBTA & Boston City Hall. That fighting is happening before housing even enters the chat!

Integrating transportation & housing planning has long been a goal for US regional organizations: It could help reduce cost of living & improve communities. But are regional organizations actually doing that sort of joint planning? We investigate in new research @urbaninstitute.bsky.social!

Here's the MBTA's Director of Transit Priority's response to our story yesterday:

Zoning reform can be a major enabler of decarbonization. Without fixing low-density mandates, we can’t scale walkable, transit-accessible housing, we lock in high-emission lifestyles and waste trillions on car-centric infrastructure. In short: If climate is the fire, zoning is the gasoline.

My YIMBY take on design is that micromanaging architecture through strict regulation and/or subjective design review processes empowers busybodies and NIMBYs for little public benefit and that public policies to create attractive neighborhoods should instead focus on designing the public realm.

I had thought that major Bay Area employers were funding YIMBYism so they could hire and retain workers for less pay and that other big businesses were relocating to lower cost areas to save money but apparently I’m getting this backwards. dlondon7.substack.com/p/the-left-b...

I hate to say it, but these are stronger housing measures than we’ve passed in MA. Let’s change that, @massgovernor.bsky.social @kimdriscollma.bsky.social!!

It isn’t “we”: it’s BPS. The strange thing abt the lack of answers on this incident is that BPS & the Mayor’s office are *very* focused on BPS bus performance. Less than 2 wks before Joseph was killed, they released this report showing AM buses were 94% on-time. #mapoli #bospoli

The @bostoncitycouncil.bsky.social's Education Cmte, chaired by @clrhenrysantana.bsky.social, is hosting a policy briefing on 7/17 at 10 AM on 2 issues - transformation schools & state accountability - the 24-25 Council has NOT held a hearing on this term. Watch a preview here: #bospoli #mapoli

Falling office values could worsen city’s budget woes, report warns. The Boston Policy Institute had previously projected a shortfall of $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion over five years. Now it estimates $1.7 billion. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/05/b...

Jim’s contention here is wrong: State Senator Brownsberger was clear the shift died b/c the final numbers for the residential tax increase in Boston were less than Mayor Wu warned abt in the summer & fall of 2024 & didn’t meet the Senate’s threshold for action. www.wgbh.org/news/politic...

When you claim something is “factually wrong,” what exactly are we talking abt here? B/c if it that @apnews.com and @bostonherald.bsky.social and @bostonglobe.com are all wrong and you’re right, then that sounds like someone prominent in the nation’s public life . . .

#Boston police deploy surveillance tech without council approval - including an app that "appears to create profiles of individuals by scrubbing information from the social media profiles and other publicly available means." flipsidenews.net/boston-polic...

This isn’t abt “embarrassment,” it’s that MA is a small state with a lot of deference to power, so much so that producing a mundane report that quantifies ‘the impact falling office values will have on the most CRE property tax dependent big city in US’ draws intense pushback & wild accusations.

Keep on coming at BPI Jim! Really hope that press - especially the folks who actually covered the tax shift fight on Beacon Hill - see this, b/c it should help their newsrooms understand that Jim is a liar. #mapoli #bospoli

Boston looks closer to SF & San Jose than ATL or Houston in terms of children vs seniors as a share of population: abt 15% of population is below 18, abt 13% is over 65. #bospoli #mapoli www.census.gov/quickfacts/f...

BPI's ED @gpimaynard.bsky.social was quoted in @scottvv.bsky.social's @bankerandtradesman.bsky.social column this week, talking about 1 of the '3 Big Ideas' to reduce the cost to build housing in Boston: eliminate inclusionary zoning.

Would love to see this chart done for Boston! I suspect an even worse ‘population capacity’ line would be drawn: my hypothesis is that Boston locked a lot of its 1950 to 1980 population loss via massive downzoning & increased regulations. #bospoli #mapoli

Finally getting around to this great article on Los Angeles' homelessness crisis and it's incredible how impactful Greg Morrow's dissertation has been. Los Angeles' zoning code once allowed for 10 million people to find a home here and segregationsts reduced that number to 4 million in the 1970s.

Fallout from Read case is reaching into Boston City Hall: 1 - a complaint letter abt Dever from Read's defense team, below 2 - In the next tweet, questions for BPD Commish Cox abt a mtg he held w/ Dever before she testified in the 2nd trail. #bospoli #mapoli www.boston25news.com/news/25-inve...

Last wk @bosbizjournal.bsky.social published 2 articles abt issues BPI has done major work on: 1 - MA's "largest construction projects today are more likely to be state or municipal projects" vs private development; 2 - Boston's office vacancy rate is ⬇️, but still >2x pre-COVID #'s #bospoli #mapoli

I chuckle thinking of the interagency cooperation necessary for a) building but mainly b) maintaining this.

We're delighted to share that Gintautas Dumcius (@gintautasd.bsky.social) is returning to MASSterList as Editor.

A week from today. Join us for the launch of the Massachusetts Zoning Atlas www.wgbh.org/forum-networ...

Congrats Gin and MASSterList!! 🔊🔊

Becoming conspiracy addled is something that can afflict anyone. Steve here is demanding that thread: written on **Tuesday** in prep for a meeting on **Wednesday** talk abt actions that hadn’t occurred yet. It seems like a lot to ask!

It’s amazing how much experience Jim managed to pack into just **10 months** as MA transportation secretary! MA’s current transpo leaders are much longer tenured: T Chief Eng has served for 2.7 Aloisis & Sec Tibbits-Nutt is at 2.1 Aloisis (& hasn’t even ousted a T GM in that WHOLE time).

One @transitmatters.bsky.social board member had an angry thread abt this: interested to see what fellow board member & @cwbeacon.bsky.social main transpo policy columnist @jimaloisi.bsky.social thinks. #bospoli #mapoli x.com/friendchrist...

A new analysis of @Boston.gov ambulance data reveals that reckless drivers are dramatically more likely to strike pedestrians who live in the city's predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.

The #bospoli news this wk has White Stadium on my mind & a recent Crain's Chicago Business article abt an $8B proposed pro-soccer stadium centered redevelopment district highlights the biggest issue lost in the ‘how much it is going to cost’ debate: the impact on the surrounding neighborhoods.

Check out this policy-centric back & forth over the millionaires tax impact: AIM's oped in @bosbizjournal.bsky.social raises detailed q's abt @ips-dc.org recent report on the policy. This shows a healthy conversation abt issues like the budget impact of falling office values IS possible.

Jim you got on this website at 7:30 am yesterday to make 2 false accusations with actual real world consequences - engaging in illegal lobbying and in regulated campaign activities - against a small, new non-profit. Your history of mendacious behavior seems important since you’re making accusations.

Only someone who engaged in the sort of stuff Jim did could think that a simple budget report is part of a vast conspiracy. But for Jim, a simple budget report is a REALLY scary thing. Why? Check out the @waybackmachine.bsky.social: web.archive.org/web/20100116...

Jim, is your past experience as a high-level staffer on the Big Dig (for a GOP governor) who helped cover up how much the project was actually going to cost what is flipping you out abt budget # report? The idea of making budget #’s public must have you in hives. #bospoli #mapoli

So being clear here Jim, you think all those State Senate leaders - Senate Prez, Revenue Chair, Pro Tem - are lying? And that those ppl were all involved in some sort of conspiracy with “secret wealthy donors effectively lobby to kill the tax relief bill”?

Jim is treating the q “why did Mayor Wu’s tax shift fail?” as if the answer isn’t known. But State Senate leaders - the Senate Prez, the Revenue Cmte, the pro tem - were really clear & told the press: they didn’t think the final tax #’s warranted it. You can read them all here: #bospoli #mapoli

Didn't the Mayor initially deny the Tufts analysis and then craft a policy validating the analysis? It bothers you and @fortpointer.bsky.social that she had to admit they were right so BPI is your bogeyman. Lindbergh baby, Gardner Heist and Albert DeSalvo all tie back in to BPI and the Krafts, yes?

Breaking news: local social media character (& his ex-transpo secretary sidekick) *shocked* to learn that powerful elected officials harbor ambition, display skill with press. If they’re still surprised by this tmrw, ensure they don’t read Federalist #10.

Check out the Weekly Transcript Round-Up for 6/13/25 - @boston.gov's FY26 budget was signed by @mayorwu.boston.gov w/o any vetoes on Monday, but that didn't crack the top 3 most interesting at @bostoncitycouncil.bsky.social this week: 📰 A @bostonglobe.com article that featured . . . #mapoli #bospoli

A good example of @jimaloisi.bsky.social’s lack of courage is his recent take on Boston’s pull back on Bike & Bus lanes. The policy was vociferously opposed by @transitmatters.bsky.social, whose board Jim sits on, but you can’t find an actual opinion abt the City’s moves here: #bospoli #mapoli

A $1.7B to $2.1B fall in commercial property tax revenue is going to rock Boston’s budget-making and it’s something that should be discussed. This is one of Boston’s most outspoken policy observers, and he won’t answer: what caused the gapping hole in original research on pressing local policy?

Did I miss your public complaints abt the recent baseless attacks on @researchbureau.bsky.social, a venerable organization with an extremely public board & donors and a century old reputation for wanting fiscal prudence? www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/27/b...

This attack is sad. BPI is providing an important civic service: the 2 reports on the impact of falling office values on Boston’s budget BPI released are the ONLY reports of their kind. That’s vital info for a City that gets 70%+ of its budget from property taxes. #bospoli #mapoli

I worry that a lot of Sacramento Democrats haven't fully reckoned with the risk that headlines like this will be endemic if the state legislature can't pass meaningful pro-housing reform this year. That means SB 79, AB 609, and so many more bills currently imperiled... www.kcra.com/article/cali...

It’s crazy that a major development in Somerville, that has gone through years of negotiations to get it ready to be built, has to overcome a hurdle of two-thirds of people in a neighborhood voting on a Wednesday in June (when nothing else is on the ballot).