re:Main

“If just 6% of single-family property owners took advantage of this new zoning, Massachusetts would unlock the needed 222,000 new homes, without factoring in any of the new housing units obtained through larger multi-family development…” @berkie1

Massachusetts permitted just 12,056 homes in 2025, among the lowest in decades. Restrictive zoning & building codes, and archaic permitting processes have made building new housing here among the most difficult in America, pushing affordability further out of reach for too many.

This summer. 📍Boston

We have a priority bill in Massachusetts that would allow you to build up to 5-homes on any lot with water & sewer. It not only unlocks needed housing but unlocks creative housing models like @livenearfriends/@typefive’s that allow people to live near friends & family again.

Last year, Somerville updated its zoning to allow the, once prevalent then prohibited, triple-decker across the majority of the City again. Now they have triple-decker mini golf.

"If we are serious about making Boston more affordable, we need to use every tool available. That means building more housing, period." - Boston City Councilor @EnriquePepen

The latest @BUonCities Menino Mayors survey finds 75% of America's mayors "agree or strongly agree that building more market-rate housing will reduce prices, up from 60% in 2021." More than half now “strongly agree,” compared with fewer than 30% in 2021.

“Everything that is happening now; the affordability crisis, the housing crisis, the transportation crisis, the utility crisis, is because building good things has become too hard.” - @realBurhanAzeem

🚨MA Sen. Sean Maguire files S.4012, the "Nonconforming Conformity Act." The bill would make Massachusetts legal to build in Massachusetts again. Towns would calculate what they actually built before zoning existed, lot sizes, setbacks, density, and make that the new baseline.

Built in the mid‑1800s, this duplex crams 2,800 sf of living space, 5-bedrooms & a small yard on a 2,613 sq ft lot. This would be illegal to build today as zoning requires; 🚫15,000 sq ft lot 🚫100’ of frontage 🚫15’ front yard depth 🚫max 35% lot coverage 📍Salem, MA

Only 3.8% of residential land in MA, 195,000 acres, has water/sewer AND is within 0.5mi of transit. Meanwhile, nearly 65,000 acres near transit lack water & sewer infrastructure. We need to better use the infrastructure we have & invest in expanding it where it matters most.

“I’m trying to do what we can as a Council to fix some of the overcorrection that happened in 1984 and now we’re missing an entire generation of missing middle housing because no one’s been able to build it.” - @PaigeForAustin 📍Austin, TX

“Fundamentally the US hasn’t built enough homes to keep up with demand for about 15-years... We just aren’t building enough homes to keep up with population & job growth, especially in places where people most want to live.” -@jenny_schuetz

90% of the triple-deckers in Massachusetts were built before 1935. These homes once helped build the state’s middle class. They didn’t disappear because demand did... we made them illegal to build everywhere.

“In nearly all American cities, unlike in other parts of the world, developers are required to build double staircases into four- to six-story residential buildings. This extra staircase takes up about 7% of floor space and drives up costs by 6% to 13%…”

The Northeast's housing crisis didn't start in 2020. Or 2010. Or 2000. It started in the 1970s with land use policies designed to constrain supply & it's never been able to meet demand since.

"From 2010 to 2019, rents in Austin increased nearly 93%—more than in any other major American city. From 2015 to 2024, Austin added 120,000 units to its housing stock—an increase of 30%, more than 3x the overall rate of growth in the US (9%)." @PewStates @AlexHrwtz

With a goal of 10,000 new homes by 2030, Memphis is stepping up to spur new 'middle housing.' The City recently relaxed building code regulations & launched the 'MI-Pilot' program, offering low-interest loans to developers building middle housing for residents at 80–120% AMI.

In Massachusetts, more than half of all single-family zoned land requires at least 40,000 square feet to build a single home, about the same size as an NFL field.

75%+ of Massachusetts’ middle housing predates 1940. That’s not a coincidence, or just “market demand.” For decades, we’ve made it increasingly difficult, or outright illegal, to build the very homes that shaped our communities and grew Massachusetts' middle class.

We don't even have to start from scratch! Our neighbors to the north have done a far better job of spurring TOD. I helped author a report (@transitmatters & @BosIndicators) that pointed out how poorly utilized transit accessible land is in the Boston area. bostonindicators.org/-/media/indica…