Should Massachusetts be Rent Controlled?
In theory, you should be able to afford to live in the city where you work.
That probably sounds like a bad joke to Boston residents. Our city is one of the least affordable housing markets in the country, and the struggle to find an affordable place to live has been well-documented.
A recent essay by Jenna Jackson, a single mom and an employee of the City of Boston, revealed a particularly dystopian fact: working for the city itself is no guarantee that you’ll actually earn enough to live in Boston. “I’ve been working in the field for well over 10 years now,” Jackson writes, “but the irony is that I still can’t afford housing.”
We should have seen this coming. Study after study has ranked Boston among America’s most expensive cities for renters. For years, anti-displacement activist organizations such as City Life/ Viva Urbana have been amplifying the stories of Greater Boston residents — particularly residents of color — who were economically forced out of the region. Tenants and activists alike have been calling for city and state leaders to adopt more aggressive strategies to deal with our worsening housing crisis.