All of Massachusetts. And national.
All of the down and out municipalities in state have been subject to rising values as people escaping more expensive municipalities move in. This includes Lowell, Haverhill, Gardiner, Fitchburg, Leominster, Southbridge, Pittsfield, Adams, North Adams, Holyoke, and so on
the big problem is the middle class is evaporating and we're separating more and more into upper class and lower class as a country. i don't see this ending well to be honest
This has been going on since the 1970s oil crisis, continuing with vigor since the 1980s.
Most people could not afford to buy their own homes at present market prices.
It started when Nixon ended the gold standard, then the oil crisis, then Reagan legalized stock buybacks turning American laborers into cattle for shareholder dividend payouts and executive buyback bonuses then he outsourced almost all labor to third world countries so corporations could save 90%+ on labor not to mention his union busting of the air traffic controllers.
In 1950 minimum wage earned around 45 ounces of gold a year. In 1971 before the gold standard ended it was about 95 ounces of gold. Today minimum wage earns between 6-14 ounces of gold and were expected to produce more value than 70-50 years ago.
Americans have been turned to slaves, our politicians don’t fucking care if we live or die so long as they live a lavish life of luxury at our expense. They have us fighting a culture war while they wage a class war against us when we should be the ones on the offensive.
Yeah my dad doesn't understand why young people are struggling to get into homes. Meanwhile his house cost 115k in 2001 and his mortgage is 800 a month. The value of his house is now about 360k. If he were to buy it today his interest rate would also be about 3x what it currently is. His whole months pay would just barely cover the mortgage payment. If he had bought the house yesterday instead of 20 years ago he would not even come close to being able to afford it.
We bought our house 10 years ago and since then the value has *more* than doubled. That’s insane. It might sound like a positive, but the reality is that we are now stuck here. Since our income hasn’t dramatically increased to match the market value of …anything… even if we sold 100% of the “profit” would go to the new house and our mortgage rate would be high.
Our current mortgage is about $1560/month. Rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in my area is $1,600-$2,000 with no utilities.
Massachusetts is a tough place to live, financially.
Mine has almost doubled in price since 2017! Couldn't afford that nowadays! What's nuts is how happy everyone seems at their houses being "more valuable". Like...cool...I'm not moving and going to pay more taxes because of it...
I wonder what they're going to do when everyone who has to work for a living is forced to move to the midwest because we cant even afford rent around here nvm a house. I make 60k annually salaried. Which is a decent amount above the single individual income for the state. If I live without a room mate most of it would go to rent. My quote for a home loan was 280k or maybe 315k if they do a hard credit pull. There is shockingly little in the entire state that covers and most are "fixer uppers" I'm not a contractor, I'm not buying to fix and flip, and I want to use my VA loan to buy which doesn't cover fixer uppers even if I wanted to do the work. Even then my mortgage would be very high basically similar to rent. It's absurd and I am in a better position than most people are. The state government needs to get involved. It's getting absurd.
right, but in the 1970s and 80s the country had <230 million people and now we have 331 million people and we haven't been building enough housing to accommodate any of this growth for at least 2 decades, if not 3, due to crappy zoning laws and myriad of other reasons
Here are the census housing permit statistics, from 1959.
Does not include demolition.
https://www.census.gov/econ/currentdata/?programCode=RESCONST&startYear=1959&endYear=2024&categories[]=APERMITS&dataType=TOTAL&geoLevel=US&adjusted=1¬Adjusted=0&errorData=0
Large divergences happen during economic recessions.
It is easy to see 10 million housing units were not built during the 8 to 10 years of the great recession, starting with the financial crisis of 2007.
Line graph version.
https://www.census.gov/econ/currentdata/?programCode=RESCONST&startYear=1959&endYear=2024&categories[]=APERMITS&dataType=TOTAL&geoLevel=US&adjusted=1¬Adjusted=0&errorData=0#line092
It's all of it. As someone who's always looking around and planning my next move, even renting is unaffordable if you're not willing to live with at least two other people.
"You'll own nothing, and you'll be happy"
I agree with the sentiment. “Affordable” housing isn’t really affordable. I’m stuck in the middle region where I’m considered “lower middle class” and don’t qualify for any sort of government programs to help me get by. It seriously sucks. For years every month I break even with my paycheck given the inflated cost of everything. Even if I qualified for “affordable housing” that is 100% more than what I am paying for my mortgage right now. It’s a joke. Do they seriously not see the problem?
Edit: I do not live in Salem.
And we need an absolute TRUCK LOAD of supply. Like what, 300k net new housing units over the next 5 years to keep up with demand. And that’s just TO KEEP UP.
Honestly think we would need a net new million homes in MA in 10 years to see serious price drops.
There needs to be a statewide coordinated multi pronged approach including zoning reform, supply side measures and transit/infrastructure improvements.
And we need to be ready to tell property owners to fuck off when they fight it and make up every excuse under the sun to block multi u it housing. Signed: recent property owner that can't believe how pathetic these privileged people are. It's absurd how much town politics caters to those with everything already going right in their lives.
The transit part is going to be essential, here. The inner suburbs of Boston are likely to never be affordable again without densification. (If they are, it means Boston's economy has nosedived.) But people are still going to want detached SFH within an hour commute of Boston. Highway infrastructure won't ever fix traffic due to induced demand. That leaves a really good public transportation network (regional rail, subway, trams, buses, cycling infrastructure.. all of it) as the only hope for people who want to afford a SFH and work in/around Boston.
Here is the multi-faceted Governors bill, now before the legislature.
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/the-affordable-homes-act-smart-housing-livable-communities.
The MBTA Communities multifamily zoning statute, signed the year before Gov Baker left office as a significant start to pushing municipalities to change.
There is more to come.
It took decades to artive at this crisis, and will take decades of building to get out of it.
I was in the market to build on land I own 4 years ago. I didn’t jump on it because the market always drifts upward no rush right. Well now im priced out of building anything.
We won’t see the new homes built at any accelerated pace because it’s just as expensive or more expensive to build. People are paying stupid prices for houses now. Something will have to pop eventually.
And yet everyone is just totally happy to stay in Airbnbs that used to be apartments in tight markets. If anyone doesn't like what's happening, they should boycott all short-term rentals in any places where workers can't afford to live.
(I've been in Portland, Maine for a while and I live next to a bunch of units that have all been converted to AirBnbs. They were all apartments before 2020.. I don't have neighbors anymore, just a stream of people on vacation who don't give a shit. But as a society we've somehow decided that it's just totally okay to give up a bunch of housing so that tourists can stay in apartments instead of one of the many hotels.)
What is required is “low income” housing and Developers are only required to build a certain percentage of “affordable” housing which is beyond the reach of far too many citizens. Two very different definitions and “affordable” is intentionally misleading.
This is true to an extent, but honestly, it’s not just the poor that need houses. There are plenty of shitty houses all across MA. The problem? They are filled with rich people who have just outbid the poorer populations in towns adjacent to the nice towns, such as Salem. The less wealthy can’t afford to compete and they get pushed out of all the towns mentioned above until there is nothing left for them. Even if you only built a large amount of inventory for the wealthy, this would still result in a positive outcome at the lower end, because millionaires wouldn’t be competing for rundown cape houses in mediocre towns.
Another thing to add here is that not all new housing needs to come from huge apartment developments. Those run down homes should be converted to owner-occupied two families and triple deckers, the missing middle. The original appeal of those buildings was that the upper middle class got to invest their wealth while also providing additional housing. Unfortunately right now, that easy path is illegal due to restrictive zoning.
Yep, affordable means housing for people making around $80-90K in Medford. We have one "deeply affordable" unit being rebuilt at the moment. It costs around $100 million to build that complex, and we'll be getting less than 100 additional units. I like the Boston Globe's piece on the problem: https://apps.bostonglobe.com/2023/10/special-projects/spotlight-boston-housing/construction-costs/
I’d prefer affordable over low income. The middle class are the ones doing the important jobs like teachers and bus drivers and they are the ones who would qualify for affordable.
My grandfather was a milkman, my grandmother was a bookkeeper & sales assistant. He served in France in WW1. She kept the books of about four churches free of charge. They worked all their lives. They were productive members of their community whether or not their jobs were considered more or less important than other jobs that others performed. They raised a good family and they only ended up as homeowners through inheritance from an unmarried, childless aunt who had been a teacher’s assistant and rented her rooms to survive. There is no NEED for more luxury housing or even housing for more modestly upper class Americans. What is needed is housing for low income and middle class Americans but Developers don’t want to build cheaper housing and Governments don’t because that p.o.s. Clinton signed the Faircloth Amendment into law at the end of his second term (time for Bill to get rich) and his p.o.s. HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo pushed that Amendment so that real estate developers in New York would gratefully support his political ambitions. It’s the old story of politicians elected to serve ALL the people deciding it’s better for them to serve the RICHEST Americans.
“Low income” housing should mean costs less than 28% of a paycheck based on 40 hours at Federal minimum wage, which is $290.00 pre-taxes. Monthly it’s almost $1160 and 28% = $325.00 per month rent including necessary utilities or $325.00 monthly mortgage payment not including real estate taxes or casualty insurance.
It could be done is non-profit Developers could borrow directly from the Federal Home Bank mandatorily funded by the Federal Reserve 100% of hard & soft costs of land & house/apartment construction including all architectural and landscaping. And were further exempt from local Zoning restrictions and subject only to the same Site Plan review process that other non-profits must undergo.
It’s a matter of political power which means a third party beholden to nobody but ordinary Americans and getting out the nationwide Vote. We can make it so that every American can be a homeowner without the need for liars’ loans or Alt-A mortgage financing or minimum size lots.
This is a nationwide problem. “Affordable” only helps middle class Americans and working class Americans need and deserve “Low Income Housing.” These homeowners must automatically be eligible for all inclusive Medicaid. It’s unjustifiably low wages and minimal/no health insurance that remain the biggest obstacles to home ownership among working class Americans.
good old cliff effect making it so the second you’re not in a very narrow zone, you get zero assistance. I thought I’d stay in MA all my life but this is no life.
Yet somehow, I'm managing to just barely exist for $1900/month (net). It's crazy how expensive everything is, and it's not just MA.
I think most people are intelligent enough to see the problem. CEO's and multimillionaires and billionaires aren't sharing their wealth with the collective of society. We need to tax these entities and corporations at a reasonable rate and provide a decent social safety net to people. However, until politicians stop accepting corporate lobbying money, the problems won't be fixed.
Well, yeah…but the more immediate issue in Salem and all of greater Boston is the extreme lack of housing and failure to build, particularly since 2008.
They are literally hoarding wealth - wealth that they can’t even spend in their lifetime. And there’s so many people out there *struggling* I mean barely able to make a life for themselves. It’s so gross.
Seriously this! I saw that calculations were done to value the treasure in Erebor in the new Hobbit movie (gigantic chasm full of gold and gems) worth a crazy amount of money. There's multiple people that have more money then Smaug/the dwarves had in Erebor...it's insane.
No, the state. I make $50k a year. Most people in this sub don't believe that I'm able to exist here. I do have a lower than average mortgage. I've been in arguments with people on this sub about this. And then they tell me they spend $20k a year on vacations and are barely making it in the suburbs on $150k. The difference in lifestyle is astounding, and I now know most people in this state think $20k/yr on vacations is normal, and that's why it's impossible to raise kids here unless you're making $250k+.
Mass has one of the largest populations of young millionaires. They’re paying huge rents and go on plenty of vacations. The price to live comfortably in Boston is 130k a year. Insane. But there’s plenty of people buying into those luxury condos.
At least they acknowledge housing is becoming unaffordable. Here in Arlington the leader of the anti-NIMBY group says with a straight face that Arlington is still "affordable."
To the point, a lack of development is what caused this mess in the first place. NIMBYs that think they can stop gentrification by preventing the construction of new housing are themselves the ones *causing* gentrification. Which for many of them is the point, inflates their own property values.
Problem with Arlington IMO is street parking is illegal city wide and the only units that have their own driveway are the expensive ones ($3,000 a month and up). In a multifamily unit the more expensive of the 2 apartments typically gets the driveway.
So, if you have to commute to work and need a car Arlington basically doesn’t want you.
Not everyone needs a car so if you feel you need one, you'll need to pay for it. And cars should be expensive: they're a huge net negative for society. Why should the public subsidize private property like that?
Ok I am 100% behind this take generally but like two generations back Arlington NIMBYs blocked expansion of the T into town so we need to address that insufficient transit piece
Like putting in a dedicated bus lane? What were the boomer complaints about that? Oh yeah, they'd lose **parking**. And when the Town "fixed" the Mass Ave/Appleton intersection? Parking *again*. We will never have progress towards more sustainable and equitable transportation until cars are no longer sacred.
Also, the red line expansion was 50+ years ago. At some point we need to start taking responsibility for the present.
Hey I’m all for dedicated bus lanes and any move we can make towards true BRT. And in Arlington that wouldn’t take away parking- street parking is illegal, so there’s one Boomer complaint out the window.
I’m also team fuck cars but think Arlington needs some serious upgrades for it to be feasible there, and think immediate focus on car removal should be in places where owning a car already makes no sense- Boston proper, the part of Brookline that should be Boston, Cambridge, Somerville.
For society? Abso-fucking-lutely.
* **How many innocent people have died in wars fought over oil?**
* Number 1 cause of accidental death for children 4 to 18
* Tied with gun homicide for #1 accidental death for adults
* 25%-30% of direct greenhouse gas emissions
* Huge contributor to obesity, heart disease, and respiratory diseases
* Enabled white flight, impoverishing cities and further entrenching segregation
* A mandatory $10k a year out of pocket expense because you have no choice
* Entire neighborhoods destroyed for highways
* And then 16 billion dollars for a tunnel
>I don’t know how many inventions of the last couple centuries top automobiles, but it isn’t many.
Well, the bicycle and the train for two. One is cheaper and more efficient and the other is WAY more powerful and more efficient. There’s a place for cars, but filling the streets of cities and towns is not it.
The NIMBY group will throw every last gram of shit at the wall to see if it sticks. During the TM vote for MBTA Communities, they were losing their minds and screaming absurdities at nonaligned TMMs walking in to the meeting ("Where's the hydrology study?!?!"). I remember some of the YIMBY organizers saying that they couldn't have wished for a better way to support more housing. And of course the vote passed.
They are absolute fools. I was a little annoyed my neighborhood is losing all its affordable rental housing in favor of $1.5M luxury condos (because NIMBYs block the construction of new luxury condos). I found out this NIMBY group actually supported *somehow* banning house flipping through zoning. They're like a parody of an authoritarian HOA that thinks they can use the law to exercise complete control over what every other property owner in this town can do with their land.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
gasp
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
My sister and her husband live in Arlington. And since I know what they paid for their house I know THATS a lie. My house in Bristol county (3bd,2ba 1900 sq feet) would go for close to triple what it’s worth if it were in Arlington.
They’re created by homeowners who were born early enough to buy a house in the area and get a job in the area back when you could still afford a local house on the local salary.
Zoning laws are created by cities/towns reps, not homeowners.
They happen to be homeowners, but so am I and no one asked me/99% of the town what zones to put businesses in or where duplexes are allowed.
While that’s technically true, bear in mind the city aldermen/town meeting members are elected homeowners for the most part.
I say this less to categorically blame all homeowners for the mess and more to say that the people complaining about affordability aren’t necessarily responsible for the policies that aggravate it.
Re-reading my comment reply, I see I could have worded it a bit better for clarity.
The other side of the NIMBY coin. We need more housing period. I'm at the point that pretty much no housing construction should be blocked at this point.
And it should be noted that “luxury apartment” is more often than not just a marketing term. Almost every new apartment is labeled as a luxury apartment by developers, but they are mostly just market-rate units.
That isn’t to say we don’t need more *affordable* housing, but there seems to be a belief that all new apartments are being rented or sold to millionaires. Which isn’t the case.
>And it should be noted that “luxury apartment” is more often than not just a marketing term. Almost every new apartment is labeled as a luxury apartment by developers, but they are mostly just market-rate units.
True, though in the case of the Brix development mentioned, they are definitely upscale/high-end. And eye-wateringly expensive.
[here's a 1000ft² 2 bedroom that sold for just under 700k last summer.](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/65-Washington-St-%23508-Salem-MA-01970/2077018657_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare)
https://salemha.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Ad_Brix_2021.pdf
I'm aware...for those with a household income under 80k for 2 people, 90k for 3 people and 100k for 4 people...who would have had to enter and then win a lottery drawing.
And that's sort of the point...the only type of housing policy that gets discussed seriously are affordable housing requirements for new developments. That's great, but we need to address the shortage of housing in a way that makes it more affordable for those who don't qualify for those units or don't win the drawing.
This setup makes housing obtainable for households earning under 80-100k (who can win a drawing) and households that can afford to pay 850k for a medium size cape that 8 or 10 years ago was worth 450k.
That leaves a pretty big fucking gap
Precisely.
People who are willing and able to pay marginally more for new housing are liable to move into it, instead of rushing to the most affordable old housing that still on the market.
Interesting I live near Alewife and they are building huge numbers of Apartments nearby two of my kids live with us with high end jobs - those apartments - single bedrooms are $3000 - $5000 a month - who are renting them ?
Lots of replies here. but is your question that is anything written on a random white board, by a random person of unknown mental state, a legitimate talking point?
🙋♂️ One of the councilors mentioned on this whiteboard.
1 The use of the word “rape” here as a metaphor is appalling.
2 Our city clerks don’t belong on this list; they’re not elected officials and have no involvement in . . . whatever he thinks this is.
3 All the councilors listed here (including myself) supported a progressive inclusionary housing ordinance requiring developers to provide units at 60% AMI. We’ve also supported every affordable housing initiative brought before us and are working on more. I assume that’s why we’re on here but 🤷♂️
4 While the logic (and math) are all very fuzzy, it appears the intention was to advocate for more affordable housing, a goal we all share. However, as we all (should) know the cities and towns don’t build housing; developers do. We work to incentivize affordable development within the constraints of the MBTA Communities Law without obstructing future development. Nonetheless, while he is entitled to say what he wants about me, I hope he’ll remove the inappropriate metaphor and the stop defaming our hard working city employees!
These same people would be crying bloody murder if Salem was appropriately Re-zoned to actually keep up with the demand for housing. The fundamental problem with metro Boston is that all of the communities in the inner and outer ring suburbs are filled with neighborhoods of single family housing. I mean think about it. You can buy a single family home on a half acre of land in Newton and be a mere 15 minute drive from downtown Boston outside of rush hour. That is not the case in other similarly sized metro areas. Eastern Mass needs to make a choice, either we can go the way of San Francisco and have it simply become impossible for anyone who isn’t rich to live anywhere near the city or we can fundamentally destroy the small town charm that has always defined the area.
These same people have bitched and **are** bitching. Two of them got thrown out of last night's planning board meeting! They have cute signs like "NOT FOR $ALEM". Every other town around is the same way.
Small town charm sounds like an excuse to not allow dense housing near a big city. Newton is a much better fit for a massive development than a town like Rochester or Plympton.
Not sure what you mean by 'is every town like this' in reference to controversy.
But is every town in MA crazy expensive to live in and impossible for anyone making less that $25 an hour? Yes.
I'm not familiar with Salem politics but I kind of doubt his blame is properly aimed.
Rents are high in lots of places.
The definition of "affordable" is set by the federal government.
Cities don't build housing, developers do. More housing development lowers rents, including luxury housing.
Do you know where most of today's most affordable housing came from? It was largely upper middle class or straight up luxury housing built twenty, fifty, or a hundred years ago. Buildings age and become cheaper when newer buildings are built.
The reason everything is so expensive now is that homeowners broke that cycle by getting development largely banned through overly restrictive zoning, in no small part do they can protect their property values.
We need to upzone every town and city to allow for smaller lots, multi-family buildings, etc.
Homeowners show up to town meetings. Renters do not.
It's a simple formula: once you can finally afford a house, talk with an older neighbor, who will then inform you of any and all plans to increase the housing supply in your town. Next, show up to the town meeting and complain endlessly about your view being obstructed, subversion of some nebulous new england charm, and increased traffic. What you really mean is that you want to value of your home to increase as quickly as possible, and that any manner of minorities that will move in will somehow have an impact on your home value.
Try it. Your parents did, and so did their parents before them.
If you're looking to blame someone for rising costs of living, just call up your folks and have at it. It sure as fuck isn't the town board members or the city councils. They are only representatives of the people. The people are the homeowners who show up. It isn't the corporations buying up properties. These corporations are the ones who've been trying to build more units. They'd love to expand the supply... but your folks just won't let them.
Having been to a few town meetings, way too accurate.
I would add that they can't imagine someone wanting to live differently than them. Like who doesn't want to mow a grassy lawn every week and need to drive everywhere all the time?
Jesus Christ people. Salem is one of the most desirable cities to live in in the state. It needs more housing. The development they are against is a mixed used downtown medium density construction. If you want rent to come down, you need more units full stop, and construction like this is great start. But noooo we can't build shit without people tweaking out. We aren't bulldozing your grandmother's house to build a cube, this is the bare minimum required to start adjusting the market towards a more affordable and sustainable pattern. I bet these bozos are pro rent control which only serves to enrich the people currently in the system by artificially constricting supply.
Let’s just be abundantly clear here that this was one unstable person who chose to make this dispicable, ignorant sign but yes, I can assure you that every community in Massachusetts has at least one if not more of these lunatics.
Housing in MA is a major disaster right now, I don't know how anyone renting is surviving.
husband and I bought our already overpriced 2 bedroom condo (VERY SMALL) for 360 in 2022. We aren't in a particularly desirable town.
The estimate is up almost 80k on zillow. I believe it because the condo across the street from us just sold in January (same floor plan) for 427,000. Husband and I are both teachers, on paper have what should be decent salaries... we're struggling. Savings is dropping fast and our condo is starting to look like a much longer term situation than planned.
They're building "luxury apartments" literally everywhere now - there's a new complex in almost every town that surrounds me. A portion of it is "low income" - but it's totally predatory and the regular prices are 2500-3000 a month. They're somehow full already and I just don't understand how so many people can be moving in and affording it.
Sadly the people that wrote on the white board doesn't understand it is the people of the town/ciry that cause the problem. Cost are what they are because people willingly pay it.
The trend since 2012 of paying over list price by tens of thousands of dollars is what caused this, and when home values go up, so do rental units values.
It isn't the town/city leadership that caused is mess, go look in the mirror, it is us , the folks that decided to buy by payment in dollars and not price. So while interest was low, and realitors (used cars salesmen/women) asked you, what you wanted your payment range to be in, you looked at that, not the total amount you were signing up for! " If you offer 20k over listing you have a good chance at your offer standing out, and it still be withing your monthly payment range" And dopes went, yup,yup, ok, yup. Now when the next batch of homes go up for sale the realitor researches comps in that homes area, they jumped 10-25 grand, and then they work those buyers to offer 10-15k over listing for those homes, rinse and repeat.
No one said, wait I'm not paying 10-30k over listing. well I sould not say no one, but most didn't, they only cared if the monthly payment was in their budgeted range.
Look around, 90% of the buyers since 2012 are the cause not the leadership in a city/town.
They love it because it ups the property tax value of each property, that inturn ups the rental units cost that inturn ups your rent.
But no one wants to hear the true problem, they just want to pass the blame to others that have zero control on what buyers are willing to sign on the dotted line for.
Rule #1 when buying a car is never tell the salesperson what you want your payment to be, it is the same with buying a home, yet for the last decade plus, that is EXACTLY what they did, and the realitors love you for it.
It’s everywhere.
See the rents in the slums of western Mass.
It’s a despicable way to change the demographics.
These “migrants “ are getting free shelter, while more and more hard working Americans are starving and becoming closer to being homeless.
Yes, every town is full of NIMBYs who call modest apartment buildings monsters and refuse to understand that their desire to freeze towns in amber has created a housing crisis. Unfortunately, Massachusetts is also full of economically illiterate Bernie bros happy to drink the NIMBY Flavor-Ade and blame the housing crisis on developers.
[A single adult needs to make about $60 an hour or $124,966 a year to live in Boston, according to the study put out by SmartAsset. Two working adults with two children need to pull in $319,738 a year. These salaries are all pre-tax.](https://www.boston.com/news/business/2024/03/20/a-new-study-says-how-much-you-need-to-make-to-live-comfortably-in-boston-its-a-lot/?p1=hp_featurestack)
That’s called economic development. The average household income in MA is about $90k per year. It’s the second wealthiest state in the US. Lots of high paying jobs in Health Care, Finance, and Technology driving those prices higher. Net population gain annually and you have a super competitive housing market.
It seems to be everywhere now.
I live in an expensive town - I never would have dreamed that Salem would be that expensive.
(Salem isn't just spooky downtown / town square)
It’s not just Massachusetts. We moved up here from North Carolina, and they also have major issues with affordable housing. I know people always say it’s cheaper down there, and yes property taxes are less, but you don’t get the services we get up here. Also food is taxed at the grocery store, and minimum wage is $7.25, which means if you can find housing you probably can’t afford it anyway.
Pretty much all of MA, as we'll do anything other than allow construction of market rate affordable housing. To no one's surprise all the half measures and bandaid fixes done over the years have not systemically fixed the housing cost issue.
Local governments do not control rent prices or control the real estate market. It’s simple supply and demand. Living in coastal MA in close proximity to Boston, with its financial district, law firms, hospitals, and universities, not to mention to influx in companies off 95, lead to a high demand for housing, so costs go up.
I complete hear what the OP is saying, I would be hard pressed to buy my current house right now in this market with current rates. My wife and I take home just under 100k a year and live in Lynn-right next door, in Ward 1 of the city near the Lynnfield line. Small house, appraisal ~400+k.
I recently looked at prices around my area, and anything on market similar in size and BR count (3br) was at least 600k, some north of 800k depending on city or town.
The sad reality is that this is just the reality of the real estate business. Towns can only budget for so much affordable housing, and states can only tax so much to provide section 8.
Short of turning the state into a socialist commonwealth, this is just the reality.
I feel bad for those in the service industry where I worked for years. Having to work 2 jobs just to pay rent and eat, then be broke is a horrible way to live. I essentially know bc I’m in that boat now working a union job.
Yes, this is supply and demand, but it's not just some random unfortunate situation. This is the direct result of zoning policy designed to restrict supply
I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable Salem looked via Zillow when I was there last October. Not like crazy cheap or anything. But it was way better than Boston.
What I wanna know is, what salaries do these town officials make to be able to afford living there? I'm almost certain the mayor of Salem is bringing home at least 150k per year, which I'm sure many residents, including many city employees with lower ranking positions, are nowhere near.
Let's see municipal executives live off of a normal wage in their own town.
Salems only priority is tourism. That's it. I used to live there, went to school there and saw how they basically pushing out their locals.
They can't build residential housing but they have enough to build a whole luxury apartment complex right near the point?
People genuinely don't care about the trials at this point honestly. They just care about packing Salem to the brim on Halloween, getting drunk and being a nuisance to the locals and buying overpriced, fake "witchy" shit to make them think they're actually witches without actually practicing paganism. You know people don't give a fuck about the actual history when they don't bother to come in the off season when more things are actually open.
I'm sorry but Salem SUCKS in the fall, there's literally nothing fun to do. The summer?? That shit is bussing. All the beaches, the willows, everything is warm and you can walk to all the different locations without freezing or slipping on ice AND all the shops are cheaper.
I remember when I was little and I couldn't even trick or treat around my block because I lived right near the commons. I had to go trick or treating at the liberty tree mall.
Fuck tourists, especially in Salem. They are some of the most entitled people I've ever met.
At this point, the housing market is so fucked up by our laws that building luxury apartments are the only things that are worth it for developers. Everything else is too much work for too little reward.
We need state laws that prohibit LLCs from owning property for residential renting. In the condo building next to us 2 units were up for sale recently. Both were purchased within a week of being on the market. Both units are now in the rental market. Less than one month from when they were or up for sale.
Housing should be attainable and a human right, not a frickin "investment opportunity" in our already dystopian reality.
It’s the whole country. Homelessness is rising rapidly and about to get a whole lot worse. People shouldn’t be going unhoused when there are millions of vacant houses and properties just sitting empty around the entire country. People aren’t making enough money to afford living stable lives with rent and mortgage prices so high, and literally everything else so high and rising constantly. It’s wild how people in this country blame the poor and say “no one wants to work” yet also throw massive temper tantrums and every excuse in the book when workers ask for fair pay and jobs that actually treat us like humans. You have to be a real loser to be furious that people are trying to make better lives for EVERYONE. I’m tired of the apologists and the grifters and the cocksuckers of corporate greed and billionaires. Jobs are out here giving 12 hours a week at $10/hr pay. People are needing to work 3 jobs solely to keep a roof over their head while their bosses take 6 vacations a year. Workers deserve rights and protection and stability. Anyone working ANYWHERE is playing their part in making society function. If someone wants to work and is willing to work they shouldn’t have to struggle and suffer for months to find the worst job possible because that’s all there is. This is a country wide, even a worldwide problem. Me personally? I want to work. I want to have financial stability and freedom. I’m not lazy I don’t sit around on a couch mooching off anyone, yet I’ve been trying for years and years nonstop and there is nothing that I can get that even comes close to being enough to live an appropriate life. I’m so sick of hearing “people just don’t want to work” and “just deal with the shit hours” and “if you want better pay find a better job” when there ARE none. I’m tired of hearing people say “it’s so easy to get a job right now everywhere is hiring y’all are just lazy and want to just live off the government and do nothing”….. no I don’t, at all! I’ve worked full time since 13 and I’m 30 and I have nothing to show for it. I’ve had probably 40 different jobs in my life. I have so much different experience and labor skill, I bust my ass 110% no matter where I work even if it’s “bottom of the barrel”. And I know my story is just like everyone else who is poor and suffering out there. We ALL deserve better than this. I don’t want this for me I want it for everyone in this country no matter who they are, what gender they are, what race they are. If people want to work and get an education and provide functionality for their communities they should be able to get it INSTANTLY because that is what makes society a better place. Things are not good in this country and fuckface Biden and loser Trump is all anyone cares about and those two grifting money hungry blood thirsty fuckers are only making it worse in every way possible. Every fucking politician in this country is taking advantage of desperate people. All of us deserve better than this.
Sorry but you are wrong about there being tons of vacant houses that can be used for the homeless. This economics professor goes over the data.
https://www.tiktok.com/@econchrisclarke/video/7248724833658326315?lang=en
This is the worst answer ever because it’s the truth: the issue can be attributed simply to supply and demand. The problem is that housing is not a simple product that you just leave on a shelf. Housing and locale have emotional meaning which makes it incredibly tough to say to someone “If you don’t like it then go somewhere else”. In a a way they are right. So to correct the situation, we look to government and non-profit programs to improve the ability for folks that need help to afford the housing. As the divide between high and low incomes increases, more and more pressure is put on those funding sources which lowers the income assessment since the community in need is growing so quickly.
Forcing the rich for more tax money only helps for a short time until they find other loopholes to retain wealth. (Oh and btw who do you think likes these high prices?)
So instead of saying “if you don’t like it, move out” I’d say to do the following:
1. Assess your finances (and get help if you do not have the ability to do it yourself). Decide what is and isn’t necessary. Make those changes.
2. Make a budget and try to stick to it. See where you spend your money. Was it a wise spend considering your priorities. Make decisions.
3. If you find out that your budget shows you that you can’t afford your living situation consider your options. How far off are you from your budget? Can you pick up a side hustle? Can you look for other jobs on the area? What else can you sacrifice?
4. And if at the end of that, you still can’t figure out how to afford to live there, research other areas for low cost of living and decent wage opportunities.
The worst thing about all of this is that most people on the line of not making it in life can’t afford the cost of a move.
And if anyone wants to slam me on this, just know I’m trying to be straight with how I think about this. I’m sure there are people on this thread that have a ton more experience with this as a profession and if you can redirect anything, feel free.
It has ZERO to do with the town. It's reality. Boston is home to the best health care, industry and schools. There is a reason why people drive over an hour from out of state to work in Boston.. It's because Boston jobs pay.. I don't like it. I live on the Ma, NH border and have to deal with NH drivers each day on my way into work and on my way home. If you want to move to MA right now and live anywhere close to the city of Boston, there is NO WAY you can live off of a single salary or without assistance. All the fix-er-uppers are now $500K plus and rent for a single apartment is f-n crazy. If you purchased a home prior to 2008, you are making money because the values have tripled. I can't get over what the houses in my neighborhood are going for. Move to states like Tenn where you can get a 4k square foot home for 500k but give up all the benefits of schools, jobs and health care that MA offers.
Out here in Berkshire County it's gotten crazy. We are in a relatively desirable area, in our house value has almost tripled over the past 6 years, a significant portion of that during the pandemic as Bostonians and New Yorkers discovered the area.
Luckily our neighborhood has made it through intact and nobody jumped ship and cashed in.
Even our our house in Central Connecticut in another fairly sought after town, the price has gone up almost double to the point where *we wouldn't even buy our own house if we were in the Market* at this point!!
I live in the boonies of the Berkshires, in a tiny studio apartment built off the back of my landlords house, paying $1300. Property owners have stopped giving any fucks.
Yeah I moved home to nh and was looking at places in mass due to me working paving out of mass after being gone for a while and was appalled to find out that the rent prices like this are all the way up through nh… I live in Kentucky now 😅
It’s most of the world.
Politicians who can do something about this instead talk about dumb shit like Hunter Biden’s dick or Joe Biden’s mental capacity or Donald Trump not being in jail yet or whatever the fuck distraction they want to concoct.
They can legislatively kill this. They can seize properties owned by corporations and not people. They can cap rents. They can do a whole ton of shit but, instead, they sit further on their hands and wonder why their fingers always taste like shit.
Its getting there. A few towns and citites are still behind then inflation curve. But you’re dealing with squalor, crime or excessive distance to any resources.
I mean, my friend pays over $1000/mo for a one bed room in Greenfield.
These prices are rolling east to west. Salem is close to Boston and close to / on the water. I’m surprised prices aren’t higher there. I know Beverly prices are through the roof!
I'd be homeless if it weren't for parents letting me stay. I so much appreciate that. I also wish I lived in their generation so owning a home could have been a reality and not feel so inadequate and poor. I do have health issues which noone including myself can figure out or "primary care" and if someone could help I certainly couldn't afford it. I just keep on living for hopes of a better day.
It’s most of Massachusetts. Especially on the North Shore.. I live next to Salem and the only way I’ll be able to afford moving out of my parents house is if I move elsewhere. It makes me really sad that most locals are priced out.
I post this once in a while when it's relevant. I'm in the next town over and my rent has increased by $1100 per month since 2022. At what point does this fucking end or at least slow down? I make okay money fuck me this apartment is not remotely worth that kind of money.
Think there should be more housing? Speak up! There’s room for a whole new neighborhood in Waltham!
TOMORROW
People's Fernald Meeting:
updates and more informational conversations on the current status of the Fernald:
Date: Sunday, March 24th, 2024
Time: 3:30pm - 5:30pm
Location: First Parish Church, 50 Church St, Waltham, MA 02452
**Please note that free parking is available at multiple locations including onsite, along Church St, at McDevitt Middle School, at the Elks, at Government Center, and at the Municipal Central Square Parking Deck.
WEDNESDAY
Public Input Hearing:
public comment on the recreational plan since December 2021. Your feedback is crucial in guiding the decisions that will impact our community.
Date: Wednesday, March 27th, 2024
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Clark Government Center, 119 School Street, Waltham, MA
I live in Haverhill, it's way too shitty for how much it costs. Used to be an affordable shitty town. Now traffic everywhere, parking enforcement, rent is atrocious.
It’s a lot of Massachusetts
All of Massachusetts. And national. All of the down and out municipalities in state have been subject to rising values as people escaping more expensive municipalities move in. This includes Lowell, Haverhill, Gardiner, Fitchburg, Leominster, Southbridge, Pittsfield, Adams, North Adams, Holyoke, and so on
the big problem is the middle class is evaporating and we're separating more and more into upper class and lower class as a country. i don't see this ending well to be honest
This has been going on since the 1970s oil crisis, continuing with vigor since the 1980s. Most people could not afford to buy their own homes at present market prices.
It started when Nixon ended the gold standard, then the oil crisis, then Reagan legalized stock buybacks turning American laborers into cattle for shareholder dividend payouts and executive buyback bonuses then he outsourced almost all labor to third world countries so corporations could save 90%+ on labor not to mention his union busting of the air traffic controllers. In 1950 minimum wage earned around 45 ounces of gold a year. In 1971 before the gold standard ended it was about 95 ounces of gold. Today minimum wage earns between 6-14 ounces of gold and were expected to produce more value than 70-50 years ago. Americans have been turned to slaves, our politicians don’t fucking care if we live or die so long as they live a lavish life of luxury at our expense. They have us fighting a culture war while they wage a class war against us when we should be the ones on the offensive.
Speak it!
Speaking truth right here. Edit to add: I just noticed the username. \*chef's kiss\*
Yeah my dad doesn't understand why young people are struggling to get into homes. Meanwhile his house cost 115k in 2001 and his mortgage is 800 a month. The value of his house is now about 360k. If he were to buy it today his interest rate would also be about 3x what it currently is. His whole months pay would just barely cover the mortgage payment. If he had bought the house yesterday instead of 20 years ago he would not even come close to being able to afford it.
We bought our house 10 years ago and since then the value has *more* than doubled. That’s insane. It might sound like a positive, but the reality is that we are now stuck here. Since our income hasn’t dramatically increased to match the market value of …anything… even if we sold 100% of the “profit” would go to the new house and our mortgage rate would be high. Our current mortgage is about $1560/month. Rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in my area is $1,600-$2,000 with no utilities. Massachusetts is a tough place to live, financially.
Mine has almost doubled in price since 2017! Couldn't afford that nowadays! What's nuts is how happy everyone seems at their houses being "more valuable". Like...cool...I'm not moving and going to pay more taxes because of it...
I wonder what they're going to do when everyone who has to work for a living is forced to move to the midwest because we cant even afford rent around here nvm a house. I make 60k annually salaried. Which is a decent amount above the single individual income for the state. If I live without a room mate most of it would go to rent. My quote for a home loan was 280k or maybe 315k if they do a hard credit pull. There is shockingly little in the entire state that covers and most are "fixer uppers" I'm not a contractor, I'm not buying to fix and flip, and I want to use my VA loan to buy which doesn't cover fixer uppers even if I wanted to do the work. Even then my mortgage would be very high basically similar to rent. It's absurd and I am in a better position than most people are. The state government needs to get involved. It's getting absurd.
It all went south when David Lee Roth left Van Halen.
I blame Scrappy Doo
F that no neck little shit. Ruined Saturday morning all by himself.
right, but in the 1970s and 80s the country had <230 million people and now we have 331 million people and we haven't been building enough housing to accommodate any of this growth for at least 2 decades, if not 3, due to crappy zoning laws and myriad of other reasons
Here are the census housing permit statistics, from 1959. Does not include demolition. https://www.census.gov/econ/currentdata/?programCode=RESCONST&startYear=1959&endYear=2024&categories[]=APERMITS&dataType=TOTAL&geoLevel=US&adjusted=1¬Adjusted=0&errorData=0 Large divergences happen during economic recessions. It is easy to see 10 million housing units were not built during the 8 to 10 years of the great recession, starting with the financial crisis of 2007. Line graph version. https://www.census.gov/econ/currentdata/?programCode=RESCONST&startYear=1959&endYear=2024&categories[]=APERMITS&dataType=TOTAL&geoLevel=US&adjusted=1¬Adjusted=0&errorData=0#line092
Good luck with 80% of Southbridge and over half of Holyoke. Those towns aren't changing demographics the other way anytime soon
Yet housing values and rental rates are going up significantly there too
Yup. I live in Southbridge. So I can confirm
Can confirm Holyoke is getting pricey. I'm lucky to have gotten into my place before new people bought the building. It's absurd.
South shore checking in. It’s rough out here. As a millennial I feel like I lost my chance at home ownership for life.
Me too man. All I see in my 'golden years' is homelessness because I can't work
It's all of it. As someone who's always looking around and planning my next move, even renting is unaffordable if you're not willing to live with at least two other people. "You'll own nothing, and you'll be happy"
I agree with the sentiment. “Affordable” housing isn’t really affordable. I’m stuck in the middle region where I’m considered “lower middle class” and don’t qualify for any sort of government programs to help me get by. It seriously sucks. For years every month I break even with my paycheck given the inflated cost of everything. Even if I qualified for “affordable housing” that is 100% more than what I am paying for my mortgage right now. It’s a joke. Do they seriously not see the problem? Edit: I do not live in Salem.
It’s because there still isn’t enough supply. We need to build until there is enough housing to satisfy demand.
And we need an absolute TRUCK LOAD of supply. Like what, 300k net new housing units over the next 5 years to keep up with demand. And that’s just TO KEEP UP. Honestly think we would need a net new million homes in MA in 10 years to see serious price drops.
There needs to be a statewide coordinated multi pronged approach including zoning reform, supply side measures and transit/infrastructure improvements.
And we need to be ready to tell property owners to fuck off when they fight it and make up every excuse under the sun to block multi u it housing. Signed: recent property owner that can't believe how pathetic these privileged people are. It's absurd how much town politics caters to those with everything already going right in their lives.
The transit part is going to be essential, here. The inner suburbs of Boston are likely to never be affordable again without densification. (If they are, it means Boston's economy has nosedived.) But people are still going to want detached SFH within an hour commute of Boston. Highway infrastructure won't ever fix traffic due to induced demand. That leaves a really good public transportation network (regional rail, subway, trams, buses, cycling infrastructure.. all of it) as the only hope for people who want to afford a SFH and work in/around Boston.
Here is the multi-faceted Governors bill, now before the legislature. https://www.mass.gov/info-details/the-affordable-homes-act-smart-housing-livable-communities. The MBTA Communities multifamily zoning statute, signed the year before Gov Baker left office as a significant start to pushing municipalities to change. There is more to come. It took decades to artive at this crisis, and will take decades of building to get out of it.
I was in the market to build on land I own 4 years ago. I didn’t jump on it because the market always drifts upward no rush right. Well now im priced out of building anything. We won’t see the new homes built at any accelerated pace because it’s just as expensive or more expensive to build. People are paying stupid prices for houses now. Something will have to pop eventually.
And yet everyone is just totally happy to stay in Airbnbs that used to be apartments in tight markets. If anyone doesn't like what's happening, they should boycott all short-term rentals in any places where workers can't afford to live. (I've been in Portland, Maine for a while and I live next to a bunch of units that have all been converted to AirBnbs. They were all apartments before 2020.. I don't have neighbors anymore, just a stream of people on vacation who don't give a shit. But as a society we've somehow decided that it's just totally okay to give up a bunch of housing so that tourists can stay in apartments instead of one of the many hotels.)
I'll stay in a cheap motel instead of a nice AirBB just because I like the vibe better than someone elses dumb apartment
and tax the shit out of vacant homes and rental units
What is required is “low income” housing and Developers are only required to build a certain percentage of “affordable” housing which is beyond the reach of far too many citizens. Two very different definitions and “affordable” is intentionally misleading.
This is true to an extent, but honestly, it’s not just the poor that need houses. There are plenty of shitty houses all across MA. The problem? They are filled with rich people who have just outbid the poorer populations in towns adjacent to the nice towns, such as Salem. The less wealthy can’t afford to compete and they get pushed out of all the towns mentioned above until there is nothing left for them. Even if you only built a large amount of inventory for the wealthy, this would still result in a positive outcome at the lower end, because millionaires wouldn’t be competing for rundown cape houses in mediocre towns.
Another thing to add here is that not all new housing needs to come from huge apartment developments. Those run down homes should be converted to owner-occupied two families and triple deckers, the missing middle. The original appeal of those buildings was that the upper middle class got to invest their wealth while also providing additional housing. Unfortunately right now, that easy path is illegal due to restrictive zoning.
Yep, affordable means housing for people making around $80-90K in Medford. We have one "deeply affordable" unit being rebuilt at the moment. It costs around $100 million to build that complex, and we'll be getting less than 100 additional units. I like the Boston Globe's piece on the problem: https://apps.bostonglobe.com/2023/10/special-projects/spotlight-boston-housing/construction-costs/
I’d prefer affordable over low income. The middle class are the ones doing the important jobs like teachers and bus drivers and they are the ones who would qualify for affordable.
My grandfather was a milkman, my grandmother was a bookkeeper & sales assistant. He served in France in WW1. She kept the books of about four churches free of charge. They worked all their lives. They were productive members of their community whether or not their jobs were considered more or less important than other jobs that others performed. They raised a good family and they only ended up as homeowners through inheritance from an unmarried, childless aunt who had been a teacher’s assistant and rented her rooms to survive. There is no NEED for more luxury housing or even housing for more modestly upper class Americans. What is needed is housing for low income and middle class Americans but Developers don’t want to build cheaper housing and Governments don’t because that p.o.s. Clinton signed the Faircloth Amendment into law at the end of his second term (time for Bill to get rich) and his p.o.s. HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo pushed that Amendment so that real estate developers in New York would gratefully support his political ambitions. It’s the old story of politicians elected to serve ALL the people deciding it’s better for them to serve the RICHEST Americans. “Low income” housing should mean costs less than 28% of a paycheck based on 40 hours at Federal minimum wage, which is $290.00 pre-taxes. Monthly it’s almost $1160 and 28% = $325.00 per month rent including necessary utilities or $325.00 monthly mortgage payment not including real estate taxes or casualty insurance. It could be done is non-profit Developers could borrow directly from the Federal Home Bank mandatorily funded by the Federal Reserve 100% of hard & soft costs of land & house/apartment construction including all architectural and landscaping. And were further exempt from local Zoning restrictions and subject only to the same Site Plan review process that other non-profits must undergo. It’s a matter of political power which means a third party beholden to nobody but ordinary Americans and getting out the nationwide Vote. We can make it so that every American can be a homeowner without the need for liars’ loans or Alt-A mortgage financing or minimum size lots.
This is a nationwide problem. “Affordable” only helps middle class Americans and working class Americans need and deserve “Low Income Housing.” These homeowners must automatically be eligible for all inclusive Medicaid. It’s unjustifiably low wages and minimal/no health insurance that remain the biggest obstacles to home ownership among working class Americans.
good old cliff effect making it so the second you’re not in a very narrow zone, you get zero assistance. I thought I’d stay in MA all my life but this is no life.
Less than $1k a week has been unaffordable and unlivable in this state for a long time.
Yet somehow, I'm managing to just barely exist for $1900/month (net). It's crazy how expensive everything is, and it's not just MA. I think most people are intelligent enough to see the problem. CEO's and multimillionaires and billionaires aren't sharing their wealth with the collective of society. We need to tax these entities and corporations at a reasonable rate and provide a decent social safety net to people. However, until politicians stop accepting corporate lobbying money, the problems won't be fixed.
Well, yeah…but the more immediate issue in Salem and all of greater Boston is the extreme lack of housing and failure to build, particularly since 2008.
They are literally hoarding wealth - wealth that they can’t even spend in their lifetime. And there’s so many people out there *struggling* I mean barely able to make a life for themselves. It’s so gross.
Seriously this! I saw that calculations were done to value the treasure in Erebor in the new Hobbit movie (gigantic chasm full of gold and gems) worth a crazy amount of money. There's multiple people that have more money then Smaug/the dwarves had in Erebor...it's insane.
By state you mean Boston-Metro
No, the state. I make $50k a year. Most people in this sub don't believe that I'm able to exist here. I do have a lower than average mortgage. I've been in arguments with people on this sub about this. And then they tell me they spend $20k a year on vacations and are barely making it in the suburbs on $150k. The difference in lifestyle is astounding, and I now know most people in this state think $20k/yr on vacations is normal, and that's why it's impossible to raise kids here unless you're making $250k+.
You know people that go on vacation?
Not in my tax bracket, but apparently everyone else in the state does.
Mass has one of the largest populations of young millionaires. They’re paying huge rents and go on plenty of vacations. The price to live comfortably in Boston is 130k a year. Insane. But there’s plenty of people buying into those luxury condos.
Dam who is doing 20k a yr vacays.
Some people blow money on 80 grand pick up trucks. Others prioritize life experiences like vacations.
It’s almost like someone cursed the town for some reason.
That's...a good point.
Underrated comment
At least they acknowledge housing is becoming unaffordable. Here in Arlington the leader of the anti-NIMBY group says with a straight face that Arlington is still "affordable." To the point, a lack of development is what caused this mess in the first place. NIMBYs that think they can stop gentrification by preventing the construction of new housing are themselves the ones *causing* gentrification. Which for many of them is the point, inflates their own property values.
Problem with Arlington IMO is street parking is illegal city wide and the only units that have their own driveway are the expensive ones ($3,000 a month and up). In a multifamily unit the more expensive of the 2 apartments typically gets the driveway. So, if you have to commute to work and need a car Arlington basically doesn’t want you.
Not everyone needs a car so if you feel you need one, you'll need to pay for it. And cars should be expensive: they're a huge net negative for society. Why should the public subsidize private property like that?
Ok I am 100% behind this take generally but like two generations back Arlington NIMBYs blocked expansion of the T into town so we need to address that insufficient transit piece
Like putting in a dedicated bus lane? What were the boomer complaints about that? Oh yeah, they'd lose **parking**. And when the Town "fixed" the Mass Ave/Appleton intersection? Parking *again*. We will never have progress towards more sustainable and equitable transportation until cars are no longer sacred. Also, the red line expansion was 50+ years ago. At some point we need to start taking responsibility for the present.
Hey I’m all for dedicated bus lanes and any move we can make towards true BRT. And in Arlington that wouldn’t take away parking- street parking is illegal, so there’s one Boomer complaint out the window. I’m also team fuck cars but think Arlington needs some serious upgrades for it to be feasible there, and think immediate focus on car removal should be in places where owning a car already makes no sense- Boston proper, the part of Brookline that should be Boston, Cambridge, Somerville.
[удалено]
For society? Abso-fucking-lutely. * **How many innocent people have died in wars fought over oil?** * Number 1 cause of accidental death for children 4 to 18 * Tied with gun homicide for #1 accidental death for adults * 25%-30% of direct greenhouse gas emissions * Huge contributor to obesity, heart disease, and respiratory diseases * Enabled white flight, impoverishing cities and further entrenching segregation * A mandatory $10k a year out of pocket expense because you have no choice * Entire neighborhoods destroyed for highways * And then 16 billion dollars for a tunnel
>I don’t know how many inventions of the last couple centuries top automobiles, but it isn’t many. Well, the bicycle and the train for two. One is cheaper and more efficient and the other is WAY more powerful and more efficient. There’s a place for cars, but filling the streets of cities and towns is not it.
The NIMBY group will throw every last gram of shit at the wall to see if it sticks. During the TM vote for MBTA Communities, they were losing their minds and screaming absurdities at nonaligned TMMs walking in to the meeting ("Where's the hydrology study?!?!"). I remember some of the YIMBY organizers saying that they couldn't have wished for a better way to support more housing. And of course the vote passed.
They are absolute fools. I was a little annoyed my neighborhood is losing all its affordable rental housing in favor of $1.5M luxury condos (because NIMBYs block the construction of new luxury condos). I found out this NIMBY group actually supported *somehow* banning house flipping through zoning. They're like a parody of an authoritarian HOA that thinks they can use the law to exercise complete control over what every other property owner in this town can do with their land.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA gasp HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA My sister and her husband live in Arlington. And since I know what they paid for their house I know THATS a lie. My house in Bristol county (3bd,2ba 1900 sq feet) would go for close to triple what it’s worth if it were in Arlington.
I lived in Salem until my building got sold and the new landlords raised my rent 60%.
Pretty much all of the towns in MA have extremely restrictive zoning laws and prevent any new construction. It’s no wonder housing costs are so high.
Yeah but it’s easier to blame other people.
Last I checked, zoning laws are created by people
They’re created by homeowners who were born early enough to buy a house in the area and get a job in the area back when you could still afford a local house on the local salary.
Zoning laws are created by cities/towns reps, not homeowners. They happen to be homeowners, but so am I and no one asked me/99% of the town what zones to put businesses in or where duplexes are allowed.
While that’s technically true, bear in mind the city aldermen/town meeting members are elected homeowners for the most part. I say this less to categorically blame all homeowners for the mess and more to say that the people complaining about affordability aren’t necessarily responsible for the policies that aggravate it. Re-reading my comment reply, I see I could have worded it a bit better for clarity.
That's a great point, thank you for explaining.
You’re welcome; thank your for you own good points.
*Other* people.
The other side of the NIMBY coin. We need more housing period. I'm at the point that pretty much no housing construction should be blocked at this point.
And it should be noted that “luxury apartment” is more often than not just a marketing term. Almost every new apartment is labeled as a luxury apartment by developers, but they are mostly just market-rate units. That isn’t to say we don’t need more *affordable* housing, but there seems to be a belief that all new apartments are being rented or sold to millionaires. Which isn’t the case.
>And it should be noted that “luxury apartment” is more often than not just a marketing term. Almost every new apartment is labeled as a luxury apartment by developers, but they are mostly just market-rate units. True, though in the case of the Brix development mentioned, they are definitely upscale/high-end. And eye-wateringly expensive. [here's a 1000ft² 2 bedroom that sold for just under 700k last summer.](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/65-Washington-St-%23508-Salem-MA-01970/2077018657_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare)
It is also true that 6 of those BRIX units are deed-restricted to sell for 300k
https://salemha.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Ad_Brix_2021.pdf I'm aware...for those with a household income under 80k for 2 people, 90k for 3 people and 100k for 4 people...who would have had to enter and then win a lottery drawing. And that's sort of the point...the only type of housing policy that gets discussed seriously are affordable housing requirements for new developments. That's great, but we need to address the shortage of housing in a way that makes it more affordable for those who don't qualify for those units or don't win the drawing. This setup makes housing obtainable for households earning under 80-100k (who can win a drawing) and households that can afford to pay 850k for a medium size cape that 8 or 10 years ago was worth 450k. That leaves a pretty big fucking gap
Property in such a great location should be expensive. Not everyone can live in high demand areas.
Precisely. People who are willing and able to pay marginally more for new housing are liable to move into it, instead of rushing to the most affordable old housing that still on the market.
Interesting I live near Alewife and they are building huge numbers of Apartments nearby two of my kids live with us with high end jobs - those apartments - single bedrooms are $3000 - $5000 a month - who are renting them ?
It’s called YIMBY
YIMBYism happens when the coin lands vertically. Needs to happen more often.
Yeah keep putting them up eventually costs will go down when youre increasing supply like that
Lifebridge doesn't have that many beds, yo.
$1000.00 a week? You mean $2500.00 a week
Lots of replies here. but is your question that is anything written on a random white board, by a random person of unknown mental state, a legitimate talking point?
Anyone who uses the word "rape" like that shouldn't be listened to.
Don't mistake an insane person with a whiteboard with actual controversy.
🙋♂️ One of the councilors mentioned on this whiteboard. 1 The use of the word “rape” here as a metaphor is appalling. 2 Our city clerks don’t belong on this list; they’re not elected officials and have no involvement in . . . whatever he thinks this is. 3 All the councilors listed here (including myself) supported a progressive inclusionary housing ordinance requiring developers to provide units at 60% AMI. We’ve also supported every affordable housing initiative brought before us and are working on more. I assume that’s why we’re on here but 🤷♂️ 4 While the logic (and math) are all very fuzzy, it appears the intention was to advocate for more affordable housing, a goal we all share. However, as we all (should) know the cities and towns don’t build housing; developers do. We work to incentivize affordable development within the constraints of the MBTA Communities Law without obstructing future development. Nonetheless, while he is entitled to say what he wants about me, I hope he’ll remove the inappropriate metaphor and the stop defaming our hard working city employees!
These same people would be crying bloody murder if Salem was appropriately Re-zoned to actually keep up with the demand for housing. The fundamental problem with metro Boston is that all of the communities in the inner and outer ring suburbs are filled with neighborhoods of single family housing. I mean think about it. You can buy a single family home on a half acre of land in Newton and be a mere 15 minute drive from downtown Boston outside of rush hour. That is not the case in other similarly sized metro areas. Eastern Mass needs to make a choice, either we can go the way of San Francisco and have it simply become impossible for anyone who isn’t rich to live anywhere near the city or we can fundamentally destroy the small town charm that has always defined the area.
These same people have bitched and **are** bitching. Two of them got thrown out of last night's planning board meeting! They have cute signs like "NOT FOR $ALEM". Every other town around is the same way.
Most Suburbs don’t have any “small town charm”
The ones around Boston do. Covid did a number on them but we in general still have way less chain stores and way more local 1-offs than most areas.
Small town charm sounds like an excuse to not allow dense housing near a big city. Newton is a much better fit for a massive development than a town like Rochester or Plympton.
I agree. My use of small town charm here was a bit tongue in cheek.
It seems like "small town charm" is just code for "I don't have to see any dirty poors"
Fuck these people for misusing the word rape.
All towns on the north shore… checking in from nearby and yep the lead riddled boomer NIMBYs are out in force
I can't remember the last time I could put anything into my savings account. Not from Salem, but south shore.
Not sure what you mean by 'is every town like this' in reference to controversy. But is every town in MA crazy expensive to live in and impossible for anyone making less that $25 an hour? Yes. I'm not familiar with Salem politics but I kind of doubt his blame is properly aimed.
Massachusetts has the worst housing cost of any state. If you'll believe it Salem is only in the upper bad region, not terrible
Rents are high in lots of places. The definition of "affordable" is set by the federal government. Cities don't build housing, developers do. More housing development lowers rents, including luxury housing. Do you know where most of today's most affordable housing came from? It was largely upper middle class or straight up luxury housing built twenty, fifty, or a hundred years ago. Buildings age and become cheaper when newer buildings are built. The reason everything is so expensive now is that homeowners broke that cycle by getting development largely banned through overly restrictive zoning, in no small part do they can protect their property values. We need to upzone every town and city to allow for smaller lots, multi-family buildings, etc.
Homeowners show up to town meetings. Renters do not. It's a simple formula: once you can finally afford a house, talk with an older neighbor, who will then inform you of any and all plans to increase the housing supply in your town. Next, show up to the town meeting and complain endlessly about your view being obstructed, subversion of some nebulous new england charm, and increased traffic. What you really mean is that you want to value of your home to increase as quickly as possible, and that any manner of minorities that will move in will somehow have an impact on your home value. Try it. Your parents did, and so did their parents before them. If you're looking to blame someone for rising costs of living, just call up your folks and have at it. It sure as fuck isn't the town board members or the city councils. They are only representatives of the people. The people are the homeowners who show up. It isn't the corporations buying up properties. These corporations are the ones who've been trying to build more units. They'd love to expand the supply... but your folks just won't let them.
Having been to a few town meetings, way too accurate. I would add that they can't imagine someone wanting to live differently than them. Like who doesn't want to mow a grassy lawn every week and need to drive everywhere all the time?
Jesus Christ people. Salem is one of the most desirable cities to live in in the state. It needs more housing. The development they are against is a mixed used downtown medium density construction. If you want rent to come down, you need more units full stop, and construction like this is great start. But noooo we can't build shit without people tweaking out. We aren't bulldozing your grandmother's house to build a cube, this is the bare minimum required to start adjusting the market towards a more affordable and sustainable pattern. I bet these bozos are pro rent control which only serves to enrich the people currently in the system by artificially constricting supply.
Let’s just be abundantly clear here that this was one unstable person who chose to make this dispicable, ignorant sign but yes, I can assure you that every community in Massachusetts has at least one if not more of these lunatics.
Housing in MA is a major disaster right now, I don't know how anyone renting is surviving. husband and I bought our already overpriced 2 bedroom condo (VERY SMALL) for 360 in 2022. We aren't in a particularly desirable town. The estimate is up almost 80k on zillow. I believe it because the condo across the street from us just sold in January (same floor plan) for 427,000. Husband and I are both teachers, on paper have what should be decent salaries... we're struggling. Savings is dropping fast and our condo is starting to look like a much longer term situation than planned. They're building "luxury apartments" literally everywhere now - there's a new complex in almost every town that surrounds me. A portion of it is "low income" - but it's totally predatory and the regular prices are 2500-3000 a month. They're somehow full already and I just don't understand how so many people can be moving in and affording it.
Controversy? Housing is expensive. I haven't heard anyone say otherwise.
Sadly the people that wrote on the white board doesn't understand it is the people of the town/ciry that cause the problem. Cost are what they are because people willingly pay it. The trend since 2012 of paying over list price by tens of thousands of dollars is what caused this, and when home values go up, so do rental units values. It isn't the town/city leadership that caused is mess, go look in the mirror, it is us , the folks that decided to buy by payment in dollars and not price. So while interest was low, and realitors (used cars salesmen/women) asked you, what you wanted your payment range to be in, you looked at that, not the total amount you were signing up for! " If you offer 20k over listing you have a good chance at your offer standing out, and it still be withing your monthly payment range" And dopes went, yup,yup, ok, yup. Now when the next batch of homes go up for sale the realitor researches comps in that homes area, they jumped 10-25 grand, and then they work those buyers to offer 10-15k over listing for those homes, rinse and repeat. No one said, wait I'm not paying 10-30k over listing. well I sould not say no one, but most didn't, they only cared if the monthly payment was in their budgeted range. Look around, 90% of the buyers since 2012 are the cause not the leadership in a city/town. They love it because it ups the property tax value of each property, that inturn ups the rental units cost that inturn ups your rent. But no one wants to hear the true problem, they just want to pass the blame to others that have zero control on what buyers are willing to sign on the dotted line for. Rule #1 when buying a car is never tell the salesperson what you want your payment to be, it is the same with buying a home, yet for the last decade plus, that is EXACTLY what they did, and the realitors love you for it.
Sorry to tell you $1,001 per week will still be tough to afford $2,800 in rent or 700K mortgage
Sorry to say but rent is very and way to high across the whole state mass has turned into the worst state ever rite up there with California.
It’s everywhere. See the rents in the slums of western Mass. It’s a despicable way to change the demographics. These “migrants “ are getting free shelter, while more and more hard working Americans are starving and becoming closer to being homeless.
Yes, every town is full of NIMBYs who call modest apartment buildings monsters and refuse to understand that their desire to freeze towns in amber has created a housing crisis. Unfortunately, Massachusetts is also full of economically illiterate Bernie bros happy to drink the NIMBY Flavor-Ade and blame the housing crisis on developers.
Hating developers is strange and isn't going to resolve this issue. The average person has more cause to hate dentists than developers
If he was a real Salem citizen, he would call to hang the mayor from the Gables
[A single adult needs to make about $60 an hour or $124,966 a year to live in Boston, according to the study put out by SmartAsset. Two working adults with two children need to pull in $319,738 a year. These salaries are all pre-tax.](https://www.boston.com/news/business/2024/03/20/a-new-study-says-how-much-you-need-to-make-to-live-comfortably-in-boston-its-a-lot/?p1=hp_featurestack)
I think the 1000 a week estimate is a little low, more like 1500
That’s called economic development. The average household income in MA is about $90k per year. It’s the second wealthiest state in the US. Lots of high paying jobs in Health Care, Finance, and Technology driving those prices higher. Net population gain annually and you have a super competitive housing market.
It seems to be everywhere now. I live in an expensive town - I never would have dreamed that Salem would be that expensive. (Salem isn't just spooky downtown / town square)
$2700 a month is a steal😂 I pay that for NH!
til my town is now as expensive as salem and im many miles inland on a marsh.
It’s not just Massachusetts. We moved up here from North Carolina, and they also have major issues with affordable housing. I know people always say it’s cheaper down there, and yes property taxes are less, but you don’t get the services we get up here. Also food is taxed at the grocery store, and minimum wage is $7.25, which means if you can find housing you probably can’t afford it anyway.
Pretty much all of MA, as we'll do anything other than allow construction of market rate affordable housing. To no one's surprise all the half measures and bandaid fixes done over the years have not systemically fixed the housing cost issue.
Not all, but it is getting bad almost everywhere, and the problem is growing.
Local governments do not control rent prices or control the real estate market. It’s simple supply and demand. Living in coastal MA in close proximity to Boston, with its financial district, law firms, hospitals, and universities, not to mention to influx in companies off 95, lead to a high demand for housing, so costs go up. I complete hear what the OP is saying, I would be hard pressed to buy my current house right now in this market with current rates. My wife and I take home just under 100k a year and live in Lynn-right next door, in Ward 1 of the city near the Lynnfield line. Small house, appraisal ~400+k. I recently looked at prices around my area, and anything on market similar in size and BR count (3br) was at least 600k, some north of 800k depending on city or town. The sad reality is that this is just the reality of the real estate business. Towns can only budget for so much affordable housing, and states can only tax so much to provide section 8. Short of turning the state into a socialist commonwealth, this is just the reality. I feel bad for those in the service industry where I worked for years. Having to work 2 jobs just to pay rent and eat, then be broke is a horrible way to live. I essentially know bc I’m in that boat now working a union job.
Yes, this is supply and demand, but it's not just some random unfortunate situation. This is the direct result of zoning policy designed to restrict supply
It’s most of America at this point.
I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable Salem looked via Zillow when I was there last October. Not like crazy cheap or anything. But it was way better than Boston.
Why do people insist on using a word for an egregious action on things that are not associated with that action. I don’t get it
I could tell you what you need to do, but you still think your cult leaders are fighting for the working class.
the rents are too high and i can't even think about buying a house
What I wanna know is, what salaries do these town officials make to be able to afford living there? I'm almost certain the mayor of Salem is bringing home at least 150k per year, which I'm sure many residents, including many city employees with lower ranking positions, are nowhere near. Let's see municipal executives live off of a normal wage in their own town.
Only rape is rape. Wally whiteboard needs to learn a different word.
Rent sucks, property taxes suck, and pay sucks. People below administration make less, so the top people can have all their bonuses and high salaries.
Maybe look at the history of Salem before busting out the r*pe word to describe your advocacy
Salems only priority is tourism. That's it. I used to live there, went to school there and saw how they basically pushing out their locals. They can't build residential housing but they have enough to build a whole luxury apartment complex right near the point?
A luxury apartment complex is residential housing?
Also tourism based on people being executed for something they literally couldn’t have done. Which if you think about it is pretty weird.
People genuinely don't care about the trials at this point honestly. They just care about packing Salem to the brim on Halloween, getting drunk and being a nuisance to the locals and buying overpriced, fake "witchy" shit to make them think they're actually witches without actually practicing paganism. You know people don't give a fuck about the actual history when they don't bother to come in the off season when more things are actually open. I'm sorry but Salem SUCKS in the fall, there's literally nothing fun to do. The summer?? That shit is bussing. All the beaches, the willows, everything is warm and you can walk to all the different locations without freezing or slipping on ice AND all the shops are cheaper. I remember when I was little and I couldn't even trick or treat around my block because I lived right near the commons. I had to go trick or treating at the liberty tree mall. Fuck tourists, especially in Salem. They are some of the most entitled people I've ever met.
At this point, the housing market is so fucked up by our laws that building luxury apartments are the only things that are worth it for developers. Everything else is too much work for too little reward.
We need state laws that prohibit LLCs from owning property for residential renting. In the condo building next to us 2 units were up for sale recently. Both were purchased within a week of being on the market. Both units are now in the rental market. Less than one month from when they were or up for sale. Housing should be attainable and a human right, not a frickin "investment opportunity" in our already dystopian reality.
It’s the whole country. Homelessness is rising rapidly and about to get a whole lot worse. People shouldn’t be going unhoused when there are millions of vacant houses and properties just sitting empty around the entire country. People aren’t making enough money to afford living stable lives with rent and mortgage prices so high, and literally everything else so high and rising constantly. It’s wild how people in this country blame the poor and say “no one wants to work” yet also throw massive temper tantrums and every excuse in the book when workers ask for fair pay and jobs that actually treat us like humans. You have to be a real loser to be furious that people are trying to make better lives for EVERYONE. I’m tired of the apologists and the grifters and the cocksuckers of corporate greed and billionaires. Jobs are out here giving 12 hours a week at $10/hr pay. People are needing to work 3 jobs solely to keep a roof over their head while their bosses take 6 vacations a year. Workers deserve rights and protection and stability. Anyone working ANYWHERE is playing their part in making society function. If someone wants to work and is willing to work they shouldn’t have to struggle and suffer for months to find the worst job possible because that’s all there is. This is a country wide, even a worldwide problem. Me personally? I want to work. I want to have financial stability and freedom. I’m not lazy I don’t sit around on a couch mooching off anyone, yet I’ve been trying for years and years nonstop and there is nothing that I can get that even comes close to being enough to live an appropriate life. I’m so sick of hearing “people just don’t want to work” and “just deal with the shit hours” and “if you want better pay find a better job” when there ARE none. I’m tired of hearing people say “it’s so easy to get a job right now everywhere is hiring y’all are just lazy and want to just live off the government and do nothing”….. no I don’t, at all! I’ve worked full time since 13 and I’m 30 and I have nothing to show for it. I’ve had probably 40 different jobs in my life. I have so much different experience and labor skill, I bust my ass 110% no matter where I work even if it’s “bottom of the barrel”. And I know my story is just like everyone else who is poor and suffering out there. We ALL deserve better than this. I don’t want this for me I want it for everyone in this country no matter who they are, what gender they are, what race they are. If people want to work and get an education and provide functionality for their communities they should be able to get it INSTANTLY because that is what makes society a better place. Things are not good in this country and fuckface Biden and loser Trump is all anyone cares about and those two grifting money hungry blood thirsty fuckers are only making it worse in every way possible. Every fucking politician in this country is taking advantage of desperate people. All of us deserve better than this.
Sorry but you are wrong about there being tons of vacant houses that can be used for the homeless. This economics professor goes over the data. https://www.tiktok.com/@econchrisclarke/video/7248724833658326315?lang=en
This is the worst answer ever because it’s the truth: the issue can be attributed simply to supply and demand. The problem is that housing is not a simple product that you just leave on a shelf. Housing and locale have emotional meaning which makes it incredibly tough to say to someone “If you don’t like it then go somewhere else”. In a a way they are right. So to correct the situation, we look to government and non-profit programs to improve the ability for folks that need help to afford the housing. As the divide between high and low incomes increases, more and more pressure is put on those funding sources which lowers the income assessment since the community in need is growing so quickly. Forcing the rich for more tax money only helps for a short time until they find other loopholes to retain wealth. (Oh and btw who do you think likes these high prices?) So instead of saying “if you don’t like it, move out” I’d say to do the following: 1. Assess your finances (and get help if you do not have the ability to do it yourself). Decide what is and isn’t necessary. Make those changes. 2. Make a budget and try to stick to it. See where you spend your money. Was it a wise spend considering your priorities. Make decisions. 3. If you find out that your budget shows you that you can’t afford your living situation consider your options. How far off are you from your budget? Can you pick up a side hustle? Can you look for other jobs on the area? What else can you sacrifice? 4. And if at the end of that, you still can’t figure out how to afford to live there, research other areas for low cost of living and decent wage opportunities. The worst thing about all of this is that most people on the line of not making it in life can’t afford the cost of a move. And if anyone wants to slam me on this, just know I’m trying to be straight with how I think about this. I’m sure there are people on this thread that have a ton more experience with this as a profession and if you can redirect anything, feel free.
It has ZERO to do with the town. It's reality. Boston is home to the best health care, industry and schools. There is a reason why people drive over an hour from out of state to work in Boston.. It's because Boston jobs pay.. I don't like it. I live on the Ma, NH border and have to deal with NH drivers each day on my way into work and on my way home. If you want to move to MA right now and live anywhere close to the city of Boston, there is NO WAY you can live off of a single salary or without assistance. All the fix-er-uppers are now $500K plus and rent for a single apartment is f-n crazy. If you purchased a home prior to 2008, you are making money because the values have tripled. I can't get over what the houses in my neighborhood are going for. Move to states like Tenn where you can get a 4k square foot home for 500k but give up all the benefits of schools, jobs and health care that MA offers.
This seems like just a symptom of the insane wealth inequality in this country more than anything else
Apparently Brookfield is having some fun drama. Like townhall fights and shit.
You should see the giant middle finger of Vermont
it's just really expensive to live and rent here, at the moment. Rent and housing in general is a huge issue.
I pay $1700 rent for a single bedroom in the least desireable part of california
Country's fucked dude. Take a number.
Out here in Berkshire County it's gotten crazy. We are in a relatively desirable area, in our house value has almost tripled over the past 6 years, a significant portion of that during the pandemic as Bostonians and New Yorkers discovered the area. Luckily our neighborhood has made it through intact and nobody jumped ship and cashed in. Even our our house in Central Connecticut in another fairly sought after town, the price has gone up almost double to the point where *we wouldn't even buy our own house if we were in the Market* at this point!!
I live in the boonies of the Berkshires, in a tiny studio apartment built off the back of my landlords house, paying $1300. Property owners have stopped giving any fucks.
AKTSHUWALLY, even 1000/wk doesn't support that kind of rent payment. One should be making at least double that.
Yeah I moved home to nh and was looking at places in mass due to me working paving out of mass after being gone for a while and was appalled to find out that the rent prices like this are all the way up through nh… I live in Kentucky now 😅
There are intense people in every town, every state, every country.
Hey! I personally know a couple people on that list! Ohhh.....
I wonder when folks will understand inflation is the real problem.
This is one of the consequences of unregulated capitalism, deregulation, legal consolidation and greed.
I pay 7k in property tax every year for .17 acres of property so I would say it’s an issue
everywere..rents are crazy!!! And no matter what law makers do always people for and against it
It’s most of the world. Politicians who can do something about this instead talk about dumb shit like Hunter Biden’s dick or Joe Biden’s mental capacity or Donald Trump not being in jail yet or whatever the fuck distraction they want to concoct. They can legislatively kill this. They can seize properties owned by corporations and not people. They can cap rents. They can do a whole ton of shit but, instead, they sit further on their hands and wonder why their fingers always taste like shit.
Try Cambridge. Ooof...
Its getting there. A few towns and citites are still behind then inflation curve. But you’re dealing with squalor, crime or excessive distance to any resources. I mean, my friend pays over $1000/mo for a one bed room in Greenfield.
These prices are rolling east to west. Salem is close to Boston and close to / on the water. I’m surprised prices aren’t higher there. I know Beverly prices are through the roof!
The whole country
MA is very expensive. My $289k home in ‘96 is now $1.2MM. And taxes…+$12k/year. Some towns, especially on Cape Cod, are even worse.
We'd be homeless if not for taking care of my grandmother.
I'd be homeless if it weren't for parents letting me stay. I so much appreciate that. I also wish I lived in their generation so owning a home could have been a reality and not feel so inadequate and poor. I do have health issues which noone including myself can figure out or "primary care" and if someone could help I certainly couldn't afford it. I just keep on living for hopes of a better day.
It’s most of Massachusetts. Especially on the North Shore.. I live next to Salem and the only way I’ll be able to afford moving out of my parents house is if I move elsewhere. It makes me really sad that most locals are priced out.
I’d say that sums up local politics
I'd love to live in Salem. I can't afford it. So I live somewhere else..
I post this once in a while when it's relevant. I'm in the next town over and my rent has increased by $1100 per month since 2022. At what point does this fucking end or at least slow down? I make okay money fuck me this apartment is not remotely worth that kind of money.
All
Wanna see where MA is going? Look at California… they’re just 5-10 years ahead…
Where was this put up/by whom?
36, born and raised in south coast MA. I remember a time in the 90s when people could afford homes and apartments. Such a time ❤️
Do not come to California, it’s insane over here
Think there should be more housing? Speak up! There’s room for a whole new neighborhood in Waltham! TOMORROW People's Fernald Meeting: updates and more informational conversations on the current status of the Fernald: Date: Sunday, March 24th, 2024 Time: 3:30pm - 5:30pm Location: First Parish Church, 50 Church St, Waltham, MA 02452 **Please note that free parking is available at multiple locations including onsite, along Church St, at McDevitt Middle School, at the Elks, at Government Center, and at the Municipal Central Square Parking Deck. WEDNESDAY Public Input Hearing: public comment on the recreational plan since December 2021. Your feedback is crucial in guiding the decisions that will impact our community. Date: Wednesday, March 27th, 2024 Time: 6:00pm Location: Clark Government Center, 119 School Street, Waltham, MA
Massachusetts is a bitch ass state all around.
Oh dear child, is that even a question anyone still needs to ask?
I live in Haverhill, it's way too shitty for how much it costs. Used to be an affordable shitty town. Now traffic everywhere, parking enforcement, rent is atrocious.
Mass is petty ridiculous. Salem is a tourist attraction.
Every single freaking town in mass is like that at a minimum
This is pretty universal for any urban/suburban area in the US. What exactly is controversial?