The Struggle for Affordable Housing in Massachusetts: A Tale of Two Communities
Valdineia Santos has spent the last seven years working at a cozy café in Winthrop, Massachusetts, a charming seaside suburb just north of Boston. Over the years, she has fallen deeply in love with the tight-knit community of 20,000 residents, where the rhythm of life is slower, and the connections between neighbors are strong. Yet, despite her affection for Winthrop, Santos and her young daughter continue to call Malden home—a city about 30 minutes inland. The reason? The cost of living in Winthrop is prohibitively expensive, with two-bedroom apartments renting for around $3,000 per month, far beyond her reach. “Maybe someday,” Santos sighed recently, as she wrapped up her shift at the café. For now, the dream of moving to Winthrop remains just that—a dream.
The MBTA Communities Act: A Law with Good Intentions, but a Rocky Road
In 2019, Massachusetts passed a law aimed at addressing the state’s crippling housing shortage. The MBTA Communities Act was designed to encourage the development of multifamily housing in dozens of towns around Boston, with the hope of easing the pressure on skyrocketing rents. The law requires communities served by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to zone for at least one district suitable for multifamily housing, ideally near public transit. The idea is simple: by increasing the supply of housing, rents would stabilize, and people like Santos could finally afford to live in the communities they love.
But the law has faced fierce resistance. Some towns argue that the state is overstepping its authority, forcing them to abandon their traditional character and local control. Diana Viens, a Winthrop resident and leader of the movement to defy the law, puts it bluntly: “It’s taking away the rights of citizens and transferring those rights away from the people who know the town best.” Viens and others argue that the law disregards the unique challenges and needs of individual communities. “Has the governor ever set foot here?” Viens asks. “Has she looked at our plan for our downtown?”
Pushback from Towns: Legal Battles and Local Resistance
More than 120 towns have complied with the law, opening the door to new multifamily developments. But roughly 30 cities and towns have pushed back, some with fierce determination. Winthrop, for example, sued the state, arguing that its unique circumstances—such as its high population density and limited land—make it unsuitable for more multifamily housing. Other towns, like Needham, have held townwide votes, with residents rejecting zoning revisions that they fear would disrupt their community’s character.
The state, however, has shown no signs of backing down. Attorney General Andrea Campbell sued the town of Milton last year after it failed to meet an initial deadline for compliance. In a major victory for the state, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled last month that the law is constitutional and that Campbell has the authority to sue towns to enforce it. Most resistant towns, including Winthrop, have since signaled their intent to comply, submitting preliminary plans to the state by the court’s deadline. However, the court also ruled that the state must restart the public input process for the law’s guidelines, giving towns until July to complete their rezoning plans.
The Bigger Picture: Zoning, Race, and Housing Affordability
The conflict in Massachusetts is part of a broader national conversation about housing affordability and the role of zoning in perpetuating inequality. Across the country, elected leaders are increasingly targeting restrictive suburban zoning laws that have long blocked the construction of multifamily housing. “There’s been a growing realization in recent years that restrictive zoning is a real barrier to housing affordability,” said Ben Metcalf, director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley. “Red states and blue states are cohering around this idea.”
But in Massachusetts and elsewhere, conversations about zoning cannot be separated from the state’s history of exclusionary practices. For decades, some towns used zoning laws to keep their communities affluent and predominantly white. While opponents of the MBTA Communities Act frame their resistance as a fight for local control, proponents argue that such arguments often mask deeper racial and class biases. “It’s coded language,” said one supporter of the law. “They’re not saying it outright, but it’s about keeping certain people out.”
The Economic and Social Costs of Inaction
Despite the pushback, housing advocates argue that the stakes are too high to give up. Massachusetts is in the midst of a housing crisis, with home prices soaring and rents well beyond the reach of middle- and low-income families. The median price for a single-family home in the state topped $650,000 last year, while the cost of renting continues to climb. The crisis has far-reaching consequences, from displacing long-time residents to stifling the state’s economy. “Housing is the linchpin of everything,” said Judi Barrett, a housing consultant south of Boston who supports the law. “When you don’t have enough housing, you lose talent, you lose businesses, and you lose the vibrancy of your community.”
Even some residents who stand to benefit from the law, like Santos, acknowledge the potential downsides. While she dreams of moving to Winthrop, she also understands why some residents might be uneasy about the changes the law could bring. “I like the town the way it is right now,” she said. “It’s small and calm, and
