by John VanScoyoc
Select Board

“You can observe a lot by just watching.” — Yogi Berra

Housing Production Falls Short of Ambitious Goals

In 2024, across Massachusetts no challenge received more attention than rates of housing production that remained stubbornly low, despite the efforts of policy-makers to unleash a boom.

By at least one measure, we in Brookline are pulling our weight when it comes to housing affordability. We continue to meet — just barely — the 10% threshold for Subsidized Housing Units that governs whether housing developers can get relief from requirements of local zoning laws.

However, in raw numbers, Brookline’s year-by-year growth in the number of housing units has been low. Here’s a comparison of housing production 2018-2021 among the Top Ten densest (pop. per sq. mi.) communities in Massachusetts. (Brookline is the 6th most densely populated municipality. Somerville is #1. Boston is #10.)

Some more recent numbers on housing production were released at the end of 2024 by the Town’s Planning and Community Development Department. Highlights:

• approved were 217 new housing units (108 net new housing units);

• of the above, 181 affordable units replaced 100 affordable units at the Brookline Housing Authority’s Walnut/High Street property;

• another three new units are planned above a new daycare at 264 Harvard St,;

• the remaining 24 net new housing units included: 13 units from the redevelopment of five smaller residential properties;

• finally, the other 11 net units were added from various conversions.

Brookline’s 2024 numbers are consistent with the range of housing units permitted from 2018-2022:

Two published reports in recent weeks cast doubt on whether 2025 will be a turn-around year for addition of housing units:

• The Boston Globe cited latest data from the Boston Planning and Development Agency: 3,575 units approved in Boston in 2024 — less than half the 7,389 units approved in 2023.

• Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies offered a projection of trends for the decade 2025-2035, including a drop in immigration and consequent decline in housing production:

  “In the low-immigration scenario, demand would support the construction of just 950,000 new units per year in 2025–2035 and 610,000 per year in 2035–2045. These levels are well below the 1.6 million to 2.1 million units built on average each year from the 1970s through the 2000s, and nearer to the 990,000-unit annual average from the 2010s, which was a historically low decade.”

Keep in Mind…

The housing market won’t languish forever. Lower interest rates, if and when they arrive, could tap a gusher of production. Brookline’s pipeline of approved-but-unbuilt projects is substantial.

Finally, the Healey administration seems unlikely to ease off the pressure on municipalities to build, as embodied in the MBTA Communities Act and the Accessory Dwelling Unit mandate.

Where ADUs are concerned, watch for news about a possible glitch in the Town’s recently updated bylaw. Town Meeting was told our ADU provisions would apply only on single family lots. But what if the State adopts regulations requiring that two- and three-family zones also accommodate ADUs? Stay tuned for an update on that question.

NOTABLE MEETINGS

Tuesday, 1/7 @ 5:30 PM

Select Board

Agenda.

• Presentation of the Disability Commission's annual report.

• Emergency Management strategy review with Fire Chief John Sullivan and Cheryl Snyder, Emergency Management Coordinator.

• Question of establishing and approving a charge for the Centre Street Lots Committee.

• Setting dates for the 2025 Annual Town Meeting.

Tuesday, 1/7 @ 6 PM

Park and Rec Commission

Agenda.

• Larz Anderson Rink Committee of Seven – discussion, public comment, and vote.

• Presentation and Vote on Skyline Park Pathway.

Thursday, 1/9 @ 6 PM

School Committee

Agenda.

• Discussion and Possible Vote on the 2025-2026 School District Calendar, including the possible addition of Eid al-Fitr as a new Category I holiday, or the possible removal of all Category I holidays from the calendar (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Lunar New Year, and Good Friday)

Thursday, 1/9 @ 7 PM

Zoning Board of Appeals

Agenda.

• 4 Fisher Avenue. Construct three dormers to an existing single-family dwelling.

• 48 Cameron Street. Construct rear addition over existing second floor bedroom to create office space

• 6 York Terrace. Convert existing single-family dwelling to two-family dwelling

Thursday, 1/9

Planning Board

Agenda.

• 67 Francis Street – Convert single-family to two-family home, expand driveway, and add two parking spaces.

• 678 Brookline Avenue – Demolish building and attached garage.

• 14 Rangeley Road – Construct rear addition to single-family home.

• 71 Green Street – Demolish two-family and construct three-family dwelling.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

‘MOST CLICKED’ RESOURCES

(From the “All Politics” newsletter of 12/17)

1. “Local Government 101” (MA Municipal Association)

2. Commercial Area Vibrancy Report.

3. Brookline City Charter Campaign.

4. Fisher Hill West Uses Advisory Committee.

RECOMMENDED READING

1. January 2025 Town Administrator’s Newsletter.

2. Update on Muddy River Oil Spill and latest Brookline.news reporting on the investigation.

3. Brookline Beacon. (Monthly publication of Brookline Senior Center.)

I encourage readers to offer views — positive or negative — on content of this newsletter. Email jvanscoyoc0@gmail.com.

Please share “All Politics Is Local” content with friends and encourage them to sign up at Good Government for Brookline.

— John VanScoyoc, Select Board