BOSTON – Lisa Shatz has watched Brookline’s demographics shift over her more than 40 years living there as housing costs have risen across the state.
“It used to be much more mixed-income; there used to be more rentals, more college kids,” Shatz, a member of Brookline’s Town Meeting, said Wednesday. “Now everything is so expensive.”
Shatz attended an outdoor rally hosted by pro-housing advocacy group Abundant Housing Massachusetts. Dozens of people called for the passage of legislation (H 1572/S 2836) that’s aimed at spurring housing production across the state, a topic targeted with a law last session but which remains a pressing concern.
The bills would override local zoning laws to allow for multifamily housing up to five units, as well as eliminate statewide minimum parking requirements.
Jesse Kanson-Benanav, executive director of the group, said Massachusetts has made progress on housing development through measures like the MBTA Communities Law and legalizing accessory dwelling units. He said there’s still a long way to go to reach the state’s goal of creating 220,000 new housing units by 2035.
Kanson-Benanav said the legislation would have a “major impact” in boosting housing production, mainly through allowing apartment buildings in more places and cutting construction costs associated with parking lots.
“We need to continue taking bold action,” Kanson-Benanav said.
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll spoke at the rally in favor of pro-housing bills.
“Look, there are two words I want to say about housing: more, faster,” Driscoll said. “That’s the directive the governor has given us.”
In December, the Senate side of the Joint Committee on Housing advanced a new draft of the Senate bill on a 5-0 vote. It has been awaiting attention in the Senate Ways and Means Committee since then. The House version has been in the Joint Committee on Housing since February 2025.
No one spoke against the bills during a September hearing the Joint Committee on Housing held on the legislation. Opponents of multifamily housing are often local residents who raise concerns about how new developments would affect neighborhood character, public services and surrounding property values. They also say more housing density can lead to overcrowded schools, traffic congestion and strain public utilities.
Sen. Brendan Crighton, sponsor of the Senate bill, said the legislation pushes Massachusetts “a long way forward” in addressing the housing shortage. Still, it won’t be easy dealing with local policy and zoning and time is running out to get major policy priorities on to Healey’s desk, he said. Under its new rules, the Legislature has until July 31 to pass major bills or get them into a conference committee.
Legislative leaders have yet to rally behind major housing production bills this session, but a ballot proposal calling for statewide rent control law is still on track to be decided by voters in November.
One of Crighton’s constituents, David Modica of Marblehead, recently went viral for pointed comments calling out town officials for approving a plan that’s compliant with the MBTA Communities Law but likely wouldn’t build any new housing, also spoke at the rally. Modica said he isn’t a “housing guy,” but backs the efforts to build more housing.
“Go break some congress people’s balls and stuff, and do good work everybody,” Modica said.