Asequibilidad de Vivienda
La vivienda segura, saludable, accesible y asequible es un derecho humano. Sin embargo, en Boston, una casa estable se ha convertido en un lujo que no todos están en condiciones de pagar. Solo alrededor de un tercio de los residentes de Boston son dueños de su propia casa, y la mitad de los inquilinos de Boston luchan con dificultad para poder pagar su renta cada mes. Mientras COVID-19 devastó comunidades que ya luchan contra el desplazamiento y el aumento de los alquileres, decenas de miles de familias de Boston viven con el temor de la inminente crisis de desalojos. Michelle luchará por conseguir recursos para crear viviendas verdaderamente asequibles y acabar con los sinhogarismos crónicos, reformas de zonificación para dar prioridad a la vivienda justa y a los hogares asequibles para familias, protecciones para estabilizar a los inquilinos y formas para ampliar la asequibilidad permanente, como los fideicomisos de tierras comunitarias. Michelle dará prioridad a la estabilidad de vivienda para las familias de Boston.
Policy PrioritiesHow We Will Lead
Building Boston’s future around affordable housing
Housing is the cornerstone of health, racial justice, economic and educational opportunity, and long-term stability. We can increase access to affordable housing by investing in and expanding social and cooperative housing, prioritize housing for low-income individuals and residents experiencing homelessness, and grow the supply of housing while focusing on housing stability. The City should work to expand permanent affordability through community land trusts and help more families purchase homes.
Combating the housing crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Due to the stresses of the pandemic, renters are struggling to afford to stay housed. We must commit to providing immediate support to families through rental relief and a moratorium on evictions. A crisis of this magnitude will have dramatic ripple effects: a reduction in educational attainment, employment and lifetime savings, and a higher incidence of a lifetime of health issues.
Planning for community resiliency, not displacement
As Boston’s residents face the effects of an impending housing crisis and the threat of displacement, we must consider pathways to resiliency. We need to create a true city planning department that does right by the people of Boston, including by preserving opportunities for seniors and people with disabilities to live at home. Read more about Michelle’s ideas for city planning and check out her plan to fix our broken development system.
Stabilizing the rental market and protecting tenants
As the pandemic continues to shake the rental market, tenants are contending with continued uncertainty. We must take action to stabilize the short-term rental market and ensure tenants’ right to counsel. We need to protect tenants against displacement, rising housing prices, and public safety issues by closing commercial loopholes.
Addressing homelessness
We need to create long-term, stable, accessible, supportive housing for people currently experiencing homelessness, going beyond providing short-term shelter to address the root cause of housing instability: affordability. We must also recognize that housing is a public health issue, and coordinate community partnerships to provide people experiencing homelessness with mental health care, treatment for substance abuse disorders, and other wrap-around services. City services must recognize the particular needs of working families, LGBTQ youth, people with disabilities, and other communities living in unstable housing.
Confronting Boston’s legacy of racism and housing discrimination
Discriminatory practices like redlining and exclusionary zoning have resulted in disproportionately high rates of housing instability in communities of color and Black communities all over the country. We know this very well in Boston; the difference in life expectancy in Back Bay is 30 years higher than it is in Roxbury, where COVID-19 infection rates are among the highest in the city. This is a direct manifestation of the legacy of structural racism in policy and practice. We must amend Boston’s zoning code to affirmatively further fair housing.
Implementing Boston’s Green New Deal (GND)
Michelle has proposed a groundbreaking plan to implement the GND at the municipal level, which includes a housing agenda built around environmental sustainability, racial and socioeconomic integration, and safeguards against displacement.
Michelle's RecordWhat We've Done Together So Far
Visited nearly every emergency shelter in the city and held a hearing to examine resources needed to serve unhoused LGBTQ youth
Advocated for rental relief and a moratorium evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent individuals from being pushed into homelessness