Getting Home: Overcoming Barriers to Housing in Greater Boston
The Boston area is experiencing a severe housing crisis. Regulations have a significant impact on the production of new housing and, more generally, on the cost of housing. Regulations affecting housing in Massachusetts span a broad spectrum of concerns, such as environmental, wetlands, and septic rules; local zoning, variance, and inspection standards; state oversight of new construction and the rehabilitation of existing structures; and access to public lands. Clearly, regulations are needed to ensure safety and the achievement of important social objectives. But have we gone too far? Have we implemented a sensible regulatory regime or overly bureaucratic rule-making? Are we sacrificing the area¹s economy and hospitality to newcomers for the status quo? The panel below discussed these questions at a Pioneer Forum January 30, 2003, in connection with the release of a Pioneer Institute-Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston study of the impact of regulations on the production of new housing. On January 28, 2003 the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston hosted a discussion on overcoming barriers to housing in Greater Boston. This discussion presented a the Rappaport Institute-Pioneer Institute study of the impact of regulations on the production of new housing. Panelists included
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