Thomas M. Menino – Building neighborhoods
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino last week unveiled the latest numbers concerning housing production in Boston, announcing that 2,655 new units of housing were produced in the Hub during 2000.
“Boston’s housing production increased almost 30 percent, while statewide housing production dropped last year for the second year in a row, and the metro area’s increased by only 6 percent,” Menino said in a press statement. “Boston will continue to produce the housing we need and preserve the affordable units we already have.
“Every affordable unit matters to the working families who are living paycheck to paycheck,” he continued. “We have to remember that we’re not just building housing units, but neighborhoods.”
The 2,655-unit total in 2000 comes after 2,061 units were built in 1999, exceeding the original goal to have 2,000 new units built that year.
The 2,655 total was a 29 percent increase over 1999, with new affordable housing being the fastest-growing segment of Boston’s housing production, the mayor reported. Affordable housing production grew by 56 percent from 648 units in 1999 to 1,012 units in 2000. Market-rate housing production increased by 16 percent in 2000 compared to 1999 figures.
In total, the city has been able to increase overall housing production three-fold since 1998, according to Boston Department of Neighborhood Development spokesman Thomas Philbin.
Boston also preserved another 1,454 existing affordable units from being converted to market-rate housing in 2000, the city reported. That represents a 2.4 percent increase over 1999’s figures, when the city preserved 1,420 units.
“I think the mayor has shown that he’s been a tireless advocate for housing,” Philbin said. “He’s been a leader at the state and national levels as well. We’ve tripled the amount of new housing in the city of Boston over the past three years, and I think that shows a real level of commitment.” Philbin added that 2000 was the first year Menino committed city funds to be used for building new housing.
He added that 2000 was a banner year and he expects production to be strong in 2001 as well, but said last year “might be a tough act to follow.”
“We keep setting the bar higher and higher, but now you have the state income tax cut, and a Republican as president, which might mean less money for housing. That makes things much more difficult,” Philbin said. “We hope to do as well, but we may have less resources to work with.”
Menino’s announcement last week was made at the Charles Street Gardens housing complex in Charlestown, where 13 units have been completed and eight more are scheduled for completion in April, totaling 14 market-rate and seven affordable 1,500-square-foot units.
