The links between unstable housing and health

Children and their caregivers who live in unstable housing situations are more likely to have health-related issues than their more financially stable peers.

That was keynote speaker Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba’s main message at Polk County Housing Trust Fund’s recent Housing Matters Symposium.

“Families struggling to pay rent or are being evicted experience [poor health] in both the children and their parents,” Ettinger de Cuba said. “They are not getting the attention they need because they cannot afford it.”

Public Meetings Privilege Housing Opponents — Here’s How to Fix It

Seattle’s City Council has been pushing more public meetings for the Comprehensive Plan and rezone process — despite significant outreach that the City has already carried out. Research shows that public meetings systematically and structurally privileges wealthier, older homeowners, and even indicates that the public meeting process cannot be easily reformed.

Priced out: How Boston’s college housing crunch displaces longtime residents

Stacy Fox, executive director of the Boston University Initiative on Cities, leads university-wide programs and research focused on urban policy, governance and community engagement. “There’s an increased demand for housing, which impacts the rental prices,” Fox said. “A group of students who want to live together might be more able to pay higher rents than a family who lives nearby, and this can sometimes lead to displacement of long-time residents.”

Red line shutdown causes disruption to student commutes, MBTA looks for new solutions

Despite last year’s Red Line shutdown, MBTA announced that it will be temporarily closing the line again to perform “critical track renewal work” and necessary repairs throughout April, according to its website.
An entrance to the Harvard Red Line station. The Red Line will be closed for track maintenance and replaced with shuttle bus and train services during April. MBTA ran its usual shuttle bus from April 1 to April 9, and later switched to a shuttle train which will run until April 30. Deirdre Habershaw, Chief of Staff to the Chief Operating Officer at MBTA, said these closures reduce the cost for the MBTA since shuttle buses are “extremely expensive to run,” especially during the week.

Trump has vowed to bring down housing costs. What is his administration doing?

Though the Trump administration has stressed homeownership as “a ticket to the American dream” as it attempts to herald in “the golden age of America,” housing has appeared to take somewhat of a backseat to the issues of foreign policy and the border in the opening months of the president’s second term. And some of his moves on those fronts — like levying tariffs and upping deportations — risk contributing to higher costs and hurdles to homeownership for everyday Americans.

Community benefit or conflict? A neighborhood fund and a Boston city councilor’s role in it.

The proposal called for converting the historic but derelict Alexandra Hotel in the South End into a 70-unit condominium tower. To build good will in the neighborhood, the developers committed to making a six-figure “community benefits” donation. The recipient? An obscure nonprofit, District 7 Community Fund Inc., the only known type of community benefits fund in Boston set up to benefit a single city council district.

Harris County’s routinely long Commissioners Court agendas are often short on details

A Houston Landing review of the cities and counties in the Houston region, found Harris County is among the worst when it comes to posting details of the hundreds of agenda items, including million-dollar contracts, audits and infrastructure projects that make up the county’s $2.6 billion budget. Of the 49 jurisdictions reviewed, 36 post supplemental or background information for agenda items. Ten governments post only their agendas. Three — including Harris County — post incomplete information.

How is Climate Change Affecting New England?

Climate change is here, all around us, affecting the four seasons that define New England’s identity and the activities we anticipate as the weather changes throughout the year: fall foliage and leaf-peeping. Quiet walks in the woods. Skiing down slopes of fresh powder. Swimming in beautiful lakes and at ocean beaches. Jogging along the Esplanade. Downing a dozen oysters at the end of a summer afternoon.

‘Anti-Displacement Tool’ to Direct City Funding to Projects that Won’t Price Out Residents

The City of Louisville will soon begin using a newly developed algorithmic tool that aims to stop city funding from going to housing projects that would displace local residents. The tool was mandated by a tenant-led 2023 law and, after a year of development by researchers at Boston University, was approved for use in November 2024. Now, it’s ready to be deployed on upcoming development proposals.