Boston is the largest city of the original American thirteen colonies. This city has a rich history, so naturally, people were compelled to live here. However, as the days progress, living here is near impossible because Boston has a serious affordable housing problem.
Many reasons make Boston a wonderful place to live, and these reasons have ensured that Boston attracts the attention of the wealthy. Maxwell Drever believes these people, like anywhere else, have driven most of the original Bostonians out by the lack of affordable housing options.
And the reason most of these Bostonians are choosing to leave the city altogether rather than finding affordable housing is that there are very few projects. The government couldn’t build new ones because of the following challenges:
1. Maxwell Drever Believes Gentrification is The Primary Challenge
Gentrification is the most significant cause of Boston having an affordable housing problem. This is because gentrification has allowed people of wealth to take over working-class Boston neighborhoods and turned them into expensive neighborhoods that the blue-collar cannot afford.
2. Spill Over Crowd From New York
The second major challenge, according to Maxwell Drever, Boston faces in its inability to develop and provide affordable housing to its original residents is the migration it is currently experiencing from the people of New York.
New York, like Boston, also has an affordable housing problem. However, the median income of a New Yorker is significantly higher than that of a Bostonian. So, because both cities share similar living conditions, New Yorkers can hustle Bostonians out of their homes because of their higher financial powers.
Although availability is rare, whenever a new space is available because they can pay more, they always occupy the place before a Bostonian could gather their resources to apply.
3. Boston Preference of Houses over Apartments
You can build affordable apartments vertically, whereas you need to build horizontally to build affordable houses. The people of Boston like to live in houses over apartments, and this preference is one of the reasons why they are currently suffering from an affordable housing crisis.
Maxwell Drever believes the rapidly rising value of land and the preference of living for Bostonians has ensured that more people are suffering from this problem yearly.
4. Stagnant income & Raising Inflation
Another challenge because of which Boston is suffering from a crippling affordable housing crisis is the residents’ stagnant income and the rise in inflation. Housing projects that previously used to fall under this category surpass them yearly; however, the income to counter this problem isn’t.
5. Institutional Suppression As Per Maxwell Drever is A Major Challenge
The final challenge Maxwell Drever feels Boston is having difficulty in developing more affordable housing is institutional suppression of the marginalized communities of color. Despite having a budget, the government never wants to invest in affordable housing and states various excuses for it.
However, if the same budget is required to build a sports team stadium, they will suddenly have all the resources required to make it happen.
Final Thoughts
Despite being one of America’s oldest and most historical cities, Boston is suffering from a severe affordable housing crisis. In this article, Maxwell Drever tells you about its challenges and why it is facing them. Give this a thorough read, and tell us what you think about this situation in the comments.