A climate for growth - The Boston Globe
Harvard Professor Edward Glaeser writes in today's Globe about the urgent need for more housing to be built in Boston. He cites statistics (Boston's 1.4 percent growth rate in a recent Census report was slower than 277 other metropolitan areas, Boston's median home price of $400,000 is more than twice that of other large cities, the cost of living is 50% higher in Boston than in Houston) and concludes saying that more people should live in Boston but that can only happen if we permit more housing.
These thoughts are very consistent with the North Allston Strategic Framework for Planning. It mentions an increased demand for scarce housing, creating housing opportunities affordable to a wide range of people, integrating new Harvard and community housing to form lively new neighborhood settings, and working toward achieving over 20 years a goal of 2,400
to 2,800 new housing units in North Allston.
Harvard has acres and acres of land sitting dormant in North Allston that it doesn't seem to know what to do with. Wouldn't it be great to see some of this new housing that everyone seems to agree we need?
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There is definitely room for more housing in Allston Village as well. Most of the commercial buildings along Harvard Ave and Brighton Ave are only one story high. It would be great to build two or three stories of housing on top of them. Also, there are a number of shopping centers with large parking lots in front. There is an opportunity there to tear down the existing buildings and replace them with mixed-use buildings that front the street (ground floor retail with residential above).
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