Two great events on Wednesday 10/8

We’ve got dueling events on Wednesday October 8, and we hope to see you at one of them!

Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability

Please join A Better Cambridge and Somerville YIMBY on October 8 for a panel discussion on Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability From National to Local. This will be primarily an in-person event but a livestream will be available.

Speakers include:

• John Infranca of Suffolk Law and Jake Gilbert of the National Zoning Atlas, who worked on the Massachusetts Zoning Atlas and will share their findings on zoning in Massachusetts including how little land in MA is zoned to allow multifamily homes. 

• Vincent Rollet, an MIT PhD student, will share his study of upzoning in New York City, including the positive impact on low-income renters. 

• Amy Dain, a Senior Fellow at Boston Indicators, is a leading expert on zoning policy, land use reform, and housing in Massachusetts who has analyzed MBTA Communities Act multifamily zoning implementation.

Location: Cambridge Senior Center, 806 Mass Ave
Time: Wednesday, October 8, 6:00 pm
Details and RSVP (including livestream information)

Somerville YIMBY Monthly Meeting

Our monthly meeting tomorrow night features a special guest presentation from Preservation of Affordable Housing, the affordable housing builders working on the Clarendon Hill redevelopment. Residents are now moving into the first completed homes on the site, and we’ll get updates about what will happen next as the project moves into phase 2.

We’ll also be gearing up for the last days of the 2025 city council and mayoral campaign, finalizing details about our table at the city’s Monster Mash Halloween street fair, and organizing outreach to other civic groups in the city.

Location: Zoom
Time: Wednesday, October 8, 6:00 pm

Recommended Reading

The Value of Historic District Status: A new paper in Regional Science and Urban Economics runs the numbers and finds that the establishment of historic preservation districts helps to drive higher housing prices.

Understanding Low-Income Housing Displacement in Chicago: The newsletter A City that Works takes a math-heavy look at construction and displacement in Chicago and finds that increased construction and economic activity are strongly correlated with better outcomes for low-income households.

Modern Multifamily Buildings Provide the Most Fire Protection: When it comes to fireproofing, studies show that modern apartment buildings are six times safer than single-family houses and older apartment buildings.