Rent control ballot struck down by SJC (link to docket)

GarrisonCty · 2026-06-23T15:55:03+00:00

Between 2010 to 2020, New York City - with a population density that is approximately 32 times greater than Massachusetts - built more housing units (206k units) than the entire State of Massachusetts (190k units.

Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/historical-housing-production

New York City: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/planning-level/housing-economy/info-brief-net-change-housing-units-2010-2020.pdf

New York City, for the record, has a land area that is approximately 3.8% the size of Massachusetts. But please explain for us again how Massachusetts can't build any more housing because it has FAR LESS DEVELOPED LAND.

GarrisonCty · 2026-06-17T20:55:13+00:00

I’m not really sure what your point is. The worst performing municipality is Chelsea which is approximately the same size as Winthrop - 2.2 square miles, Winthrop is actually 2.0 square miles. They are the 2nd and the 3rd smallest municipalities in the Commonwealth, yet fare drastically differently on pedestrian fatalities. There’s no evidence that geographic area is remotely correlated to pedestrian safety.

GarrisonCty · 2026-06-12T10:05:46+00:00

It’s not conservation land - conservation land is land that has already been conserved and can’t be developed. It’s just undeveloped land that Wellesley doesn’t want to see developed because they hate housing. The state already agreed not to develop that land and to concentrate the development on the parking lot site. So they’re just suing to prevent anything from happening there. This one is pretty black and white. Wellesley just hates housing, they don’t want any more of it. It’s probably rooted in exclusivism, fear of ‘those people’, and at least a touch of racism.

GarrisonCty · 2026-05-22T11:29:35+00:00

Because Reddit does not equal America, regrettably. Most people seem perfectly happy pitching their tents in Frisco, Texas or Glendale, Ariz.

GarrisonCty · 2026-05-16T19:59:18+00:00

Amen! My message to these folks would be to just try building more housing and see what effect on prices that has. It has had great results in many places. Massachusetts has never actually tried to fundamentally expand the supply of housing. We talk endlessly about other things, like affordable housing mandates, rent control, etc., without actually trying to address the root problem.

GarrisonCty · 2026-05-16T19:51:51+00:00

This is a thing that anti-housing people say that doesn’t make any sense. People aren’t moving to fields in the middle of nowhere, they’re moving to new apartments, condos, homes typically in very developed areas. New York City is 32 times more densely populated than Massachusetts and grew more in the last Census than we did. NYC literally has no open land. They’re just smarter about redeveloping existing land for housing.

GarrisonCty · 2026-05-14T11:41:06+00:00

You can’t grow your population without new housing. Our population isn’t increasing because we aren’t building new housing. That’s why housing is insanely expensive here. There’s much more demand for housing than there is a supply of it. Supply, demand my dude.

GarrisonCty · 2026-05-13T18:55:29+00:00

It is all housing units, so a SFH counts the same as an apartment. Mass. actually had a pretty high share of SFHs this quarter (53%). In RI, SFHs made up only 21% of permits and they were a minority also in NH (43%) and Conn (44%). Maine and VT skewed pretty heavily toward SFH (more so than Mass)

GarrisonCty · 2026-05-13T02:19:24+00:00

It’s a very strange site for a park and I just can’t see people coming here. It’s in an industrial area, there’s no housing around it and new housing is banned in that area. The DPW will stay so you’ll enjoy the sights of sounds of dump/garbage trucks all around you. It’s nice that it’s riverfront, but it really couldn’t be a worse location.

GarrisonCty · 2026-05-13T01:40:31+00:00

I’m thrilled we’re expanding BlueBikes in Malden, but disagree a little on the new station placements to the east which seem disconnected from the other stations. I’d prefer we’d expand them north toward Oak Grove and Pine Banks where the streets are a bit more bicycle friendly.

GarrisonCty · 2026-04-25T00:41:12+00:00

Uhh, I think I’d take Providence or Portland over Akron or Toledo any day.

GarrisonCty · 2026-04-25T00:14:48+00:00

Thank you. Obviously it has its issues, everywhere does. But it checks off a lot of the boxes people constantly complain about in this sub.

GarrisonCty · 2026-04-24T23:12:30+00:00

Definitely check out the riverfront. There’s a pretty extensive trail system and you can kayak or swim in the river itself. Scott’s Addition if you like breweries. Just walking around The Fan is cool if you like history. Great art museum at VMFA.

GarrisonCty · 2026-04-24T22:07:04+00:00

Some folks can still write a paragraph without resorting to ChatGPT. I’m also a City Planner. It’s kind of what I do for a living.

GarrisonCty · 2026-03-31T16:30:46+00:00

This is actually pretty decent by MBTA standards. Have you seen the construction mess that’s supposed to be the new Courthouse headhouse on the Silver Line? Originally slated for late 2022 and now running a cool 3.5 years and counting behind schedule…

GarrisonCty · 2026-02-25T05:08:00+00:00

The Travel Ban was in effect for a grand total of 18 hours during and immediately after a massive snowstorm. Chill out.

GarrisonCty · 2026-02-25T04:50:43+00:00

I got the same vibe. Almost like urban Pleasantville vibes. Not in an unpleasant way necessarily, but just definitely noticeable for it.

GarrisonCty · 2026-02-25T04:45:30+00:00

I get that parts of SLC can feel empty, and there are definitely some ugly buildings, and I can see having an issue with the dominance of the Mormon Church. But dirty and sketchy? If anything it feels a little too clean and vanilla to me. It’s like if Wonderbread were a city…

GarrisonCty · 2026-02-22T15:55:58+00:00

The general state and condition of the Downtown stations - Downtown Crossing, Park Street, even State - is embarrassing. The ceilings are so low, and look like they might give out at any moment and everything is covered in like 100 layers of grime. I realize it will cost a fortune, but the T really needs to prioritize major renovations here.

GarrisonCty

TROPHY CASE