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Boston Globe: Other States Are Tackling Their Housing Crises. So Why Not Mass.?

Boston Globe, Dec. 3, 2019: Other States Are Tackling Their Housing Crises. So Why Not Mass.?

In a sign of how difficult it has been for Massachusetts to tackle its mounting housing crisis, a modest bill that would make it easier for cities and towns to build more homes — only if they want to — has been in legislative limbo for two years and counting, despite broad support and a months-long push for passage by Governor Charlie Baker.

During that time, other states facing similar housing shortages have taken action. New York’s legislature strengthened rent control. Washington lawmakers passed a slate of bills designed to promote construction. Oregon enacted the nation’s first statewide cap on rent increases, and eliminated single-family zoning in most urban areas.

But in Massachusetts, long considered a progressive state, measures that aim to ease restrictions on construction and blunt some of the nation’s highest housing costs have gone nowhere.

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