BU’s Initiative on Cities Latest Menino Survey of Mayors Focuses on Housing Affordability Crisis
Survey finds more mayors understand the problem, but roadblocks to change remain
A growing majority of mayors in America’s cities recognize the need to build more housing to solve the affordability crisis, but there are still obstacles to change, according to the latest Menino Survey of Mayors conducted by Boston University’s Initiative on Cities.
The 2025 Menino Survey, released April 1, surveyed 115 mayors of US cities of more than 75,000 residents and found that 75 percent agree or strongly agree that building more housing will lower prices. But political and structural obstacles remain.
“Three-quarters of US mayors now believe that building more housing will reduce prices, up from just 60 percent four years ago,” says survey coauthor Katherine Levine Einstein, a College of Arts & Sciences associate professor of political science & CISS Affiliate. “But far fewer are willing to adopt many of the policy changes necessary to meaningfully address their communities’ supply crunch.”
Einstein wrote the report with BU colleagues David M. Glick, a CAS professor of political science, and Maxwell Palmer, a CAS associate professor of political science & CISS Affiliate….
To read more, visit BU TODAY where this article originally appeared on April 6, 2026.