Boston Regional Challenge: What Experts Are Saying About the Report
“Over the past decade, Boston has built over 18,000 new units of housing; 9,000 of which are within walking distance to thousands of jobs. Going forward, we will continue to grow the City’s population by building housing that is innovative, close to jobs and public transportation, environmentally sustainable and affordable to Boston’s workforce.”
City of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino
“Building better communities and improving our quality of life through investments in sustainable development principles are a top priority of the Patrick-Murray Administration,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “Whether it’s through Growth Districts, or use of the state’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to promote workforce housing, or changes made to the Economic Development Incentive Program, we are focused on building stronger urban areas, and I applaud ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing for sharing our commitment to this effort.”
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
“In order to address our state’s complex workforce housing needs, it’s important that we understand the complex challenges of housing, transportation and the environment. Building sustainable communities that will help Massachusetts keep the best and brightest is a challenge that we must embrace head on. The smart, forward-thinking report commissioned by the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing is an important first step to helping us put people back to work, improve the quality of life of our workers, and boost our local economies.”
John F. Kerry, United States Senator, Massachusetts
“Like all thriving cities, the challenges faced by Boston must be addressed in a long-term, comprehensive way. We must work together to meet these intertwining challenges and maintain a strong balance with housing, economic, environmental and transportation concerns, that effect not only Bostonians, but those who visit and do business in the City of Boston.”
Scott R. Brown, United States Senator, Massachusetts
“We all know that working families are struggling to make ends meet in this economy. Since housing and transportation account for such a disproportionate amount of household income in the Boston regional area, we have to find better ways to house our workforce. I commend the Urban Land Institute and the Terwilliger Center for this groundbreaking study. This is a necessary step in the development of sustainable, transit-oriented workforce housing that will benefit our economy, our environment and improve the quality of life for working families throughout the Boston area.”
Stephen F. Lynch, United States Congressman, Massachusetts 9th District
“This study reinforces the importance of planning for housing, transportation and the environment. The cost calculator provides real people here in the Boston Region with a valuable tool to determine their real cost of place. Given the importance of these issues and the need to develop local solutions, the calculator is a vital step towards empowering residents to call upon policy makers to affect change.”
Steve Preston, Board Member, ULI Terwilliger Center Advisory Board
Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
“This report clearly underscores the importance of broadening the understanding surrounding some of the challenges associated with housing affordability to also include transportation costs, travel time and the negative environmental impacts of commuting,” said Cisneros. “It’s also a call to action to address the critical workforce housing need here in the Boston Region, as well as so many other regions across the country. We need to use the data in this report to concentrate our thinking on solutions that get us closer to a smart growth approach to development, namely reasonably priced or mixed-income communities that reshape and revitalize areas of promise, often in the middle of or adjacent to high cost markets, near employment, amenities and transportation centers.”
Honorable Henry Cisneros, Chairman, CityView
“I commend the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing for commissioning this informative report. Having commuted from the Boston suburbs into Boston for many years, I know the difficulties presented to commuters first-hand. This report provides a valuable tool to members of the workforce and will help them discern information that will assist them in managing their finances; furthermore, political leaders should consider these findings in making public policy. Helping the Boston regional workforce remain competitive requires a comprehensive effort to ease the housing and transportation burden.”
Andrew H. Card Jr., Former United States Transportation Secretary
“Within the Boston region, there are pockets where housing is affordable but transportation offsets those lower costs. Many people in the workforce—teachers, nurses, office workers—are forced to spend precious time and money commuting from the homes they can afford to the places where they work,” said ULI Terwilliger Center Chairman J. Ronald Terwilliger. “These findings reinforce that years of ever-sprawling development have resulted in a growing gap between where people live and where they work.”
J. Ronald Terwilliger, ULI Terwilliger Center Chairman
“The report reinforces ULI’s emphasis on workforce housing as a key part of sustainable growth patterns for urban regions, said ULI Chief Executive Officer Patrick L. Phillips. “The ability of our cities to provide housing that is close to jobs is a major component of long-term sustainability and vitality,” Phillips said. “Where we build is just as important as what we build. The challenge for the land use industry is to build workforce housing where it’s needed.”
Patrick L. Phillips, ULI Chief Executive Officer
“No longer will the true cost of a house be hidden in the Boston Area,” says Scott Bernstein, CNT President. “This calculator gives consumers an insurance policy against the rising and chaotic costs for transportation and fuel. It will help home seekers, both owners and renters, know what it’s worth to take advantage of the region’s mass transportation and local amenities, and in the process, avoid locations that are too financially risky.”
Scott Bernstein, CNT President
