The Healey-Driscoll Administration has prioritized meeting the moment with bold and unprecedented action around housing development, preservation, and stability. There is no single solution or responsible party that can accomplish the goal of creating 222,000 new homes to move Massachusetts from the current state of crisis to a future state of housing abundance, affordability, and economic competitiveness. The creation of the Executive Office of Livable Communities was one of the first acts of this Administration putting emphasis and prioritization on these issues. Next, the Administration filed the Affordable Homes Act and collaborated with the legislature to pass 49 new policy items and over five billion dollars of capital spending and tax credits. The full and efficient implementation of this landmark legislation alongside full implementation of the MBTA Communities Act and work of various commissions, is EOHLC’s top priority. These are the first steps, but certainly not the last.
In partnership with the Housing Advisory Council, EOHLC is presenting this plan to help define goals, outline the strategies to achieve those goals, and create a framework for measuring progress. The plan before you incorporates perspectives and feedback interactions across Massachusetts. Over 3,000 people engaged with EOHLC in this process, not to define the issues or admire the problem, but to make a plan for action. The identified strategies in this section consider the perspectives from 14 regional listening sessions held in each region of the State, a public online survey, and over 20 targeted stakeholder sessions. These strategies refer to ongoing, renewed and new actions the Administration, municipal partners, and the greater housing ecosystem can take to move toward a brighter housing future.
This plan will be a living document in response to a living problem. As EOHLC works to put strategies into action and consider recommendations by future commission work in unique areas of concern, it also commits to evaluating effectiveness and changing approaches when metrics or conditions dictate.
[Reviewers: edit this section at the following link. Key Strategies Intro.docx]