Are you tired of seeing 'affordable' units that aren't really affordable?
The IDP uses “area median income,” or AMI - which measures a typical household income based on cities all around Boston — including Brookline, Newton, and even part of New Hampshire!! These wealthy cities inflate AMI - most households in Boston make nowhere near these amounts!
Are you mad seeing new development push people out?
The Truly Affordable Standards We Need!
A STRONGER IDP WOULD MEAN BUILDING BOSTON FOR ALL ITS RESIDENTS
Only 9% of new housing is Boston is being built for low and moderate income residents who make up almost half of the City. And only 3% is affordable to the lowest-income households facing the most need.
These numbers would increase dramatically if we start requiring 1/3 of housing in private developments to be truly affordable. 13% is not enough! And the 13% is not even truly affordable because the IDP focuses on higher income levels, meaning that almost no units built by private developers are affordable to 44% of Boston.
THE IDP SHOULD MATCH REAL BOSTON INCOMES, NOT USE AN INFLATED “AMI”
The IDP uses an extremely broken income statistic: “area median income,” or AMI. By including cities all around Boston such as Brookline and Newton, the AMI gives an annual income of $113,300 for a household of 4. Most households in Boston make nowhere near that!
Our solution: redefine “affordable housing” to be truly affordable, including households making $0-25,000 and $25,000-50,000 a year.
TRULY AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROMOTES RACIAL JUSTICE, NOT RACIAL EXCLUSION AND INEQUALITY
People of color in Boston make much less than white people because of the combined forces of economic inequality and systemic racism. So not only does using high AMI’s exclude many Boston residents, but it discriminates against people of color. This is another reason that the IDP must redefine affordable housing to truly reach low- and moderate-income households!
