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Boston's Morning Newsletter
Could public land help alleviate Boston's housing crisis? A new report suggests so
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Running late for work today? At least you’re not as late as the book that was just returned to Worcester Public Library — 51 years overdue.
Here’s what we’re checking out today:
Year in review: The Boston Foundation released its annual Greater Boston Housing Report Card this morning. The data, compiled by the foundation’s think tank Boston Indicators, gives insight into a number of housing market factors — from rent and home sale prices to rates of housing instability. The 2024 report also looks at an untapped resource researchers say may help alleviate the state’s housing crisis: Public land.
- The findings: Greater Boston could add 85,000 units of housing by developing just 5% of Massachusetts’ vacant state and municipally owned land at 15 units per acre, according to the report.
- Why do it? In many cases, public land is prime real estate for new housing. “There is actually a lot of either municipally-owned land, state-owned or MBTA-owned land that could be right for a well-located housing development near transit,” Luc Schuster, executive director of Boston Indicators, told WBUR’s John Bender.
- What’s standing in the way? First, there’s a tangle of public procurement laws and the housing permitting process to navigate. Second, Schuster says there have been instances where communities work against the development of public land. “They’ve purchased up land to stop housing from being developed [or] turned it into conservation land to ensure that housing doesn’t get built,” said Schuster. According to the report, at least 13 communities have spent more than $50 million since 2010 to stop proposed housing developments on public land.
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Big red flag: As our dry weather continues, Gov. Maura Healey is headed to Middleton today to highlight brush fire risks across Massachusetts. Rich MacKinnon, the president of the state firefighters union, told WBUR’s Paul Connearney he’s never seen as many simultaneous brush fires during his 28-year career. “We’re sending members and task forces into different parts of the state that we never had to before,” MacKinnon said.
- Zoom out: A red flag warning is in effect today for all of southern New England due to the dry conditions and wind gusts.
- Zoom in: Attleboro has declared a water emergency, with the city’s reservoir at historic lows. The city’s mayor is urging residents to conserve water and use bottled water “as much as possible.”
Go green: Massachusetts is launching a new program to make it easier for people who drive for a living to buy or lease electric cars. Beginning today, Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers can get up to $6,500 — on top of existing EV incentives — thanks to the Ride Clean program. State officials expect the program to support the purchase or lease of 1,000 to 2,000 EVs by next year. (Apply here.)
Still on strike: Thousands of students on the North Shore are getting an extended holiday weekend, as teacher strikes continue in three communities. Beverly, Gloucester and Marblehead have all canceled classes today due to the strikes.
- In all three communities, teachers have been working under expired contracts since at least the summer. The Associated Press has more details here on what they want in a new contract.
Sensing solar storms: We know space weather events, like solar storms, are responsible for the vibrant northern lights displays we’ve seen this past year in New England. But space weather can also affect the operation of GPS systems, airplane routes and energy grids. A system of sensors, in the works at the University of New Hampshire, could help warn us Earthlings before certain space events strike.
- A UNH research team was awarded $24.3 million by NASA on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to develop solar wind sensors, which will play a part in a nationwide space weather alert system. According to Toni Galvin, a physicist working on the project, the sensors will be able to gauge how dangerous a stream of solar wind could be for Earth and send a warning in as few as 10 minutes.
P.S.— Speaking of space, the Taurid meteor shower is peaking this week. Here’s a guide on how to watch it.
