Population slightly down in MA 2022 (Boston, Bridgewater: section 8, for sale, affordable house)

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Why? Because they can't afford it. There are plenty of areas in this country where $400k will buy you a really nice house, just not in the Boston area. Nobody is entitled to live anywhere.

At the same token, the folks in the Wellesley, Hingham, and Needham type towns aren't entitled to be exempt from having affordable homes/units being built in their towns either. lol

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

At the same token, the folks in the Wellesley, Hingham, and Needham type towns aren't entitled to be exempt from having affordable homes/units being built in their towns either. lol

But many of those folks have worked hard in life and take pride in their towns. I can understand why they wouldn't want affordable housing units in their towns.

You just posted a link where people are upset about a sober house in Marblehead and said you understand why people might be upset about that. The two situations aren't that different.

There's no reason affordable housing needs to be in a place like cohasset or Lincoln. It makes no sense.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by msRB311

But many of those folks have worked hard in life and take pride in their towns. I can understand why they wouldn't want affordable housing units in their towns.

You just posted a link where people are upset about a sober house in Marblehead and said you understand why people might be upset about that. The two situations aren't that different.

There's no reason affordable housing needs to be in a place like cohasset or Lincoln. It makes no sense.

They aren't the same thing. The sober house is for folks who have known drug/substance abuse issues. Affordable housing isn't for folks with those kind of issues. It is for folks who are working hard to make a living and want to be able to live in a nice community, it's just that their income level while higher than what a lot of other folks might make, still isn't quite high enough to allow them home ownership even though the reality is someone making $70-100K should be able to afford a home here. Due to prices being so out of wack, affordable housing is needed in many towns. Why should only multimillionaires be able to live in Hingham, Duxbury or the like? I get it, a lot of them worked hard as well but many inherited or were given handouts. Why can't a nurse making $85K, who is a critical service provider to the community, live in a nice community? This is where affordable housing comes into play. It creates socioeconomic diversity while allowing people the chance at home ownership. Certain types of affordable housing isn't meant for undesirables to come in and crowd a higher tier community like so many incorrectly believe. I mean take this new development in Duxbury....there are $900K houses being built in there but also affordables. Aghast to the Deluxburyites, they will indeed have some neighbors not making $500K/year.


https://delphicassociates.com/checke...ll-duxbury-ma/

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by msRB311

You're really all about building up those south shore suburbs huh? You also realize that's adding to more nightmare traffic and MBTA issues.

I'm guessing most people without kids would prefer to live in Boston than a south shore town. There is a development near me that is close to the highway and I always see transient type people who appear to be mentally ill or on drugs roaming along the highway. Those are sadly the types of people that places like that bring in. I think single people get more isolated and being in the city of near the city is probably better for them.

All of the suburbs are North South and West. Building in Boston is prohibitively expensive and difficult.

Typical new suburban SFh development In euxrban MD:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3993...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4024...7i16384!8i8192

Basic starter home Townhomes:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4561...7i16384!8i8192

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

All of the suburbs are North South and West. Building in Boston is prohibitively expensive and difficult.

Typical new suburban SFh development In euxrban MD:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3993...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4024...7i16384!8i8192

Basic starter home Townhomes:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4561...7i16384!8i8192

Those would be 700k and up in the Boston area.

[msRB311]

Welp maybe something should be done to make 'affordable' housing less expensive and difficult to build in places like Boston where it belongs instead of throwing it up in nicer suburbs.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Welp maybe something should be done to make 'affordable' housing less expensive and difficult to build in places like Boston where it belongs instead of throwing it up in nicer suburbs.

"something should be done"

Is not really helpful as building new homes. The way you frame affordable housing is like their soviet style apartments or housing projects. Theres plenty of nice towns and communities all around the USA with apartments, town homes, and country views, horses and so on. Its not that uncommon.

In fact, we have a few here- Bridgewater is one that comes to mind as having a #of subsidized housing units, hay farms, larger McMansions, plain jane reasonably priced homes, triple deckers, standard rentals townhomes, condos Victorians, and small capes.

No one would call Bridgewater a bad town. All I think ought to be done is to replicate this mix over a larger percentage of the town area and with smaller lot sizes. Which would actually make for a more coherent and cohesive aesthetic and I think be more appealing from the curb.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

"something should be done"

Is not really helpful as building new homes. The way you frame affordable housing is like their soviet style apartments or housing projects. Theres plenty of nice towns and communities all around the USA with apartments, town homes, and country views, horses and so on. Its not that uncommon.

In fact, we have a few here- Bridgewater is one that comes to mind as having a #of subsidized housing units, hay farms, larger McMansions, plain jane reasonably priced homes, triple deckers, standard rentals townhomes, condos Victorians, and small capes.

The problem is that the people who might consider buying a 700k condo don't want to live in Bridgewater. They want to live in Boston. The people who might want to live there and can afford 700k want an SFH.

South Station is 50+ minutes by Commuter Rail. Back Bay, Kendall, or 128 would easily be an hour and a half. CR pass is like $400 a month.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Welp maybe something should be done to make 'affordable' housing less expensive and difficult to build in places like Boston where it belongs instead of throwing it up in nicer suburbs.

Not everyone wants to live in Boston...just curious why do you think affordable housing only belongs in places like Boston?

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

Not everyone wants to live in Boston...just curious why do you think affordable housing only belongs in places like Boston?

Cities are meant to have more socioeconomic diversity. Boston has very little if any these days. That is a problem.

There have always been well known suburbs of Boston that are known for being wealthy havens to flock to. Why do you think affordable housing belongs in those towns?