RESOURCES

 Planning Department Friday Report (5/29/20)

• Go here for previous editions.

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Letter—Newton officials, residents to MA legislators: Support H.4263, "Housing Choices" bill (5/9/20)

"At this juncture, Newton needs assistance from the state to allow us to create the housing we need. H.4263, An Act to promote housing choices, would enable a municipality to pass by a simple majority vote certain zoning changes that would help advance housing production and smart growth development, as opposed to the currently required super majority (2/3) vote. The bill would also allow a simple majority vote to approve certain special permits for affordable housing developments around public transit or in mixed-use developments. Passing this bill would be a significant step towards meeting Newton’s critical housing needs, allowing local communities to contribute to housing production."

Zoning Redesign (Planning Dept page)

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Zoning Redesign (Engine 6 page)

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Northland Project

(approved 12/2/19 by City Council, affirmed by referendum 3/3/20)

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Newton does not have enough homes (2-page flyer)

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Shared Beliefs About Housing in Newton

Engine 6 and its Livable Newton partners participate in a CHAPA (Citizens' Housing and Planning Association) program called the Municipal Engagement Initiative. We wrote this statement to affirm our understanding of the chronic regional housing shortage and our resolve to do something about it.

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The character of the neighborhood in Newtonville  (Rev. Howard Haywood, Newton TAB op-ed, 1/21/15)

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The State of Zoning for Multi-Family Housing in Greater Boston (Amy Dain, June 2019)

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MAPC Metro Mayors Coalition Housing Task Force

Compact: "After factoring in the housing demand created by... new workers, the increasing number of senior households, and the changing needs of existing residents, we estimate that the [15 municipalities of the] Metro Mayors Coalition will need to add 185,000 housing units from 2015–2030 in order to meet demand and reduce—or at least stabilize—housing costs." Pro-rated by population size, that means Newton should ideally be adding over 1,000 units a year through 2030. We're not even coming close.

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Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2019 Shows Newton Needs to Produce Much More (7/16/19 Engine 6 summary of Newton findings)

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TODEX: Transit-Oriented Development Explorer for Massachusetts (MHP Center for Housing Data)

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• This interactive map allows you to explore housing development patterns across neighborhoods in the MBTA rail system. Click on any station to see a graphic with surrounding housing density levels. Click "Data" tab to sort, filter, and download info for any station, line, or town in the data set.

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• Research suggests a recommended minimum density of at least 10 homes/acre to support rail service. For the Green Line D stations in Newton, the densities are: Chestnut Hill—1.9; Newton Centre—3.2; Newton Highlands—4.0; Eliot—4.2; Waban—2.1; Woodland—3.6; Riverside—2.3.

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Documents Relating to Engine 6 HUD Complaint (2013) and Conciliation Agreement (2015)

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