Housing in Massachusetts

Abstract

Massachusetts is experiencing a housing crisis with the cost of housing increasing more rapidly than in any other comparable coastal state over the past 40 years. This growth in the cost of housing has far outpaced the growth in household income. This thesis explores state economics, the housing market in Massachusetts, and one piece of recent legislation, the MBTA Communities Act, designed to directly address the housing crisis. Over these past forty years cities and towns in Massachusetts have developed zoning codes that restrict the ability to add new housing to the existing stock. With such strong local control over land use, I argue that intervention is needed from the state to provide zoning relief and institute as of right high-density zoning. I will use the town of Milton as a case study to illustrate the adoption of the new legislation and theorize on the impact of unlocking new housing.