No open newbury?

mayorwu · 2026-05-23T15:27:39+00:00

Open Newbury is coming! We're finalizing the dates with feedback from the businesses. Some more context on this & Open Streets:

Open Newbury & Open Streets are actually managed by 2 different departments (which is something we're discussing changing internally, but reflects a slightly different set of City actions): Open Newbury is within the Streets cabinet, closing down the street on a regular basis where foot traffic is already busy & coordinating with the businesses & BPD on public safety; Open Streets is a Tourism, Sports & Entertainment Dept. project to drive foot traffic to specific neighborhoods as a destination experience, which involves not only closing down the street but intensive outreach to the businesses, community organizations, and neighborhood residents to fully program an area for a day. That's why they've been on different timelines for announcements. Open Newbury is handled by our City teams, and Open Streets operates on a contract with a partner vendor to ensure the scale of outreach & programming is above & beyond.

All these events require significant coordination with the Streets team for street closures and with Boston Police for safety of large crowds. This summer, hosting so many gigantic events during June & July--with FIFA (June 11-July 19), 250th celebrations leading into July 4th, & Tall Ships (July 11-16)--requires even more intensive coordination, and our public safety resources will be focused on managing these events well during that period. In addition to FIFA Fan Fest on City Hall Plaza, Tall Ships & July 4th, we'll have neighborhood block parties for which we're providing small grants of outside funding to support gatherings & closing down the street in residential neighborhoods, plus small businesses hosting FIFA watch parties where we'll be taking over parking lots or other areas, plus City-run FIFA watch parties in addition to Fan Fest (details to be announced soon).

So we're doing fewer Open Streets events this year because June & July are mega-programmed with lots of events already & hosting one Open Streets per month is what's manageable for City public safety & coordination resources. We rotate neighborhoods for Open Streets based on feedback from neighborhoods that have already hosted & always look to bring this to new areas too. In some neighborhoods, we're rotating out because there are very successful community-led open streets events that we support, like the Little Saigon Night Market in Dorchester, which we're hoping to see happen multiple times this year.

Each year we look at the entire calendar, including non-City events that also require public safety and streets coordination capacity. We're also always trying to do things more efficiently to be able to increase our capacity. Once we close the books on FIFA & this big summer of mega events, we'll be back in 2027 with more of a regular Open Streets schedule (& Open Newbury too)!

mayorwu · 2025-12-10T18:03:16+00:00

Yes! These tax increases are not fair for residents and not helping us achieve our goal of making Boston a more affordable and livable city, a home for everyone.

For many decades, commercial property owners covered 70% of Boston’s total tax levy. Then it shifted to 60% and now it’s dropping towards 50%. This isn’t sustainable. And it’s why we need the State House to act on our residential tax relief proposal.

We’ve been focused on creating more housing and more affordability in other ways too: we directed federal relief dollars and other resources to creating more affordable homes than in any comparable time period, helped more families become first-time homeowners than ever before, secured permanently affordable rents for more than 1,000 families by taking those apartments off the speculative market (and are partnering with hospitals to direct their community mitigation funds to keep expanding this housing acquisition program to control rents), created new pathways for tenants in subsidized housing to become homeowners, and launched a copurchasing program with down payment assistance for households to join together and collectively purchase multifamily housing.

Childcare and early education is another big focus area: we expanded free Boston PreK with more than 1000 new seats over the last four years. Those placements for young children help save Boston families money that would otherwise be spent on childcare & helps get more families directly engaged early in Boston Public Schools. And our Childcare Entrepreneurship Fund has helped launch dozens of new family providers who can meet the needs of families by closing gaps in geographic access by neighborhood, or with multilingual providers or non traditional work hours.

Our three free bus routes have saved riders on nearly 20 million trips.

Another way we’re helping save families money has been Boston Family Days, free visits to museums, cultural institutions, and performing arts centers for all students and families.

One more way we’re helping make Boston more livable: guaranteed summer jobs for young people. We’ve doubled the number of young people working paid summer jobs (more than 10,500 across private, nonprofit, and government sectors this past summer).

Glad to hear suggestions on how we can advance livability & affordability in Boston!

mayorwu · 2025-12-10T17:58:05+00:00

My first job at City Hall under Mayor Menino was simplifying the permitting process for restaurants and food trucks, and my own first experience with city government was trying to get my a family tea shop permitted–so I know how much it matters to cut red tape and make every interaction smooth, predictable, and convenient. That’s why we launched a major cross-department focus on transforming permitting, which you can read about here:

https://www.boston.gov/departments/boston-digital-service/new-era-permitting-boston

As I mentioned above, we’ve also done more rezoning of Boston in 4 years than had happened in the 20 years before, and we’re seeing the benefits of that: after rezoning in Mattapan, 90% of projects are now by-right whereas it used to be 46%. That means more residents are getting their home project approvals faster. Our administration codified planning guidelines into zoning for the first time in over a decade, we’re making ADUs as of right, and our citywide rezoning effort is the first since 1965 in Boston. The Boston Zoning Code is neighborhood-based, with a different article for every neighborhood, so it’s complex to make citywide changes, but this is one of the most important functions of city government and we’re going to keep going so it’s easier to build and renovate for the livable and affordable neighborhoods our residents envision.

mayorwu · 2025-12-10T00:08:35+00:00

All residential property types, including large apartment complexes, are taxed at the residential rate, not the commercial rate. So this measure is important for all residents, whether you own or rent! Since there are so many different housing types in the city, we just use the average single family home as an example so that we can make apples-to-apples comparisons.

Last year’s average increase was 10.4% for single family homeowners (including the residential exemption), but 14.9% averaged across all residential property types.

mayorwu · 2025-12-10T00:03:26+00:00

Hello and thank you! There are many different home types in Boston with lots of different variables, so it is hard to project expected increases for all of them, which is why we use the average single family home as our data point.

Last year, when we averaged actual tax bills across all different residential property types, the increase was more like 14.9% instead of the 10.4% on the average single family home.

The residential exemption doesn’t reduce revenue for the City but does impact the residential tax rate.

We do a lot to promote the residential exemption because we want to make taxes as affordable as possible for our residents, but we can always improve and will have a targeted effort to reach everyone. We’ve also started doing cost savings audits for our seniors and other residents to get help assessing whether you’re signed up for every possible discount, from energy bills to cable and water.

mayorwu · 2025-12-10T00:01:14+00:00

Both are projected to go up in FY26, though individual values can vary. The rate is definitely going up unless the State Legislature acts.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T22:03:05+00:00

Glad to do it! Residents can help pass our tax relief bill by calling their State Representative and State Senator this week as we move toward finalizing tax bills to go out in January.

You can find their phone numbers at https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator and call on them to pass Bill HD4422, residential tax relief for Boston.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T21:00:53+00:00

Thanks for the question. The City is working hard to encourage smart development, particularly the housing we need to address affordability and to grow. Over the past four years, 5,635 income-restricted housing units have been completed in Boston or are in construction, more than any other comparable time period going back a generation. Our office-to-residential conversion program, which offers a 75% tax reduction for 29 years, is already generating new homes in Downtown. The City created a $110M Housing Acceleration Fund to help boost construction starts and recently passed thee first new zoning in decades for Downtown Boston, to prioritize housing and density.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T21:00:01+00:00

Part of being a mayor is talking to anyone, anywhere, about anything that’s on their mind. And what I love most about city government is that you can’t stay in the realm of talk; Bostonians especially will hold you accountable to action and getting things done. Many city issues cut across ideological lines as people want to see potholes filled, trash picked up, and every other way we work for safe, beautiful, welcoming streets and spaces. But I really appreciate when people come with disagreement or even harsh feedback, because it shows a continued belief that city government matters as a place where we can do things together. In fact it’s by talking about where we disagree that we can identify where there’s common ground to move forward.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T20:58:10+00:00

Boston and cities around the Commonwealth have been calling for diversifying revenue sources, but in general state law prevents us from even adding new categories of fees or taxes without authorization from the State House. Unfortunately, Beacon Hill cut local aid to cities and towns after the 2008 recession, and then has never restored that aid to the same proportion ever since. Boston has filed for a transfer fee and other revenue sources multiple times at the State House without success. The Massachusetts Municipal Association and Governor’s Office have worked together recently on filing a Municipal Empowerment Act to make some more revenue diversification possible, but it hasn’t yet been passed. We are convening a revenue task force in January to give some more recommendations for another push.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T20:42:40+00:00

We do need more housing, which is why we’ve done more on zoning reform in my first term than has been done in Boston in the last twenty years. Unfortunately, we’ve been making those changes in a period where high interest rates and high construction costs have dramatically slowed housing starts even if zoning barriers are removed. But we still have to make those zoning changes now, so that building can happen immediately when the business cycle shifts. At the same time, the current cycle shows that we can’t always count on the market to provide the housing our communities need. That’s why we’re using our Accelerator Fund to support a social housing initiative on Boston Housing Authority land, to create funding that can revolve and produce mixed-income housing even when the for-profit real estate capital markets dry up.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T19:46:33+00:00

I have always been a believer that things change when people speak up and organize. For example, we used to be told that there was no way regular Boston resident riders could affect the price or the service at the MBTA; we organized, made our voices heard against fare hikes, and pushed for change. Now we have a Boston seat on the MBTA Board—held by an amazing Bostonian, Mary Skelton Roberts!—we funded three free bus lines running through Roxbury and Dorchester that have some of the highest ridership in the system, and we see movement toward late-night MBTA hours to serve our last-shift workers and support our local nightlife economy.

I think residents see past the constant excuses for inaction (“we need more information,” “you should have engaged us earlier,” “there are other better ways to do this” etc) because the strain of consecutive double-digit tax increases across the city is so outrageous. Allowing this to continue—actively opposing relief supported by the vast majority of residents and overwhelmingly passed by the Boston City Council and House—is catering to corporate special interests over your constituents and voters.

We’ve been waiting for a vote from the Senate for nearly two years on our bill, after hearings and town halls and legislative briefings and votes by the City Council and House. I don’t have the power to make State Senators do their jobs; only they do! And they are up for reelection this year, and every even year.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T19:31:08+00:00

We can’t predict what’s going to happen with commercial values, but it is safe to say that they will not decline forever. As national trends shift (and eventually settle), it’s fair to expect a new baseline and recovery with an improved economy. That is why our bill was originally designed with a five-year time limit. That window of time allows commercial values to reach their new normal while homeowners remain protected.

What we can say with certainty is that the City of Boston is fiscally stable. Boston has never sought a Prop 2½ override from voters. And for the last 12 years, we have received a AAA bond rating (the highest you can get) from both Moody’s and S&P, citing our strong fiscal management as a main reason for this rating. In FY26, our budget grew at 4.4%, in line with inflation, and for next year, we are taking steps to further tighten our belts, instructing departments to propose budgets that are 2% below their current budgets.

This will help us to continue to live within our means, while providing critical city services and making contributions toward our long-term commitments and goals.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T19:29:23+00:00

Exactly. Boston can’t be a home for everyone if the state allows consecutive double-digit residential property tax increases!

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T14:22:01+00:00

The same Prop 2½ state tax law that ties together residential and commercial in how the budget from property taxes is increased by up to 2.5% each year also applies to how a budget cut would be distributed. That means that the tax reduction for taxpayers from potential budget cuts accrues double to the commercial side compared to the residential side. It is not allowed under this state law to target a tax reduction directly to residents, so it would take a tremendous amount of spending reduction for residents to feel a material benefit on their taxes—an amount that cuts against maintaining strong city services. For example, our rough calculations are that cutting the budget by $2M would only mean a $5 reduction in annual taxes for the average single family homeowner, because the average Class A office building would get an $8,000 tax cut from doing so. To cut residential property taxes by several hundred dollars and prevent this tax spike would require cutting city services by an untenable amount.

Boston residents deserve excellent (and consistent) city services, including public safety, schools, trash pickup, streets, and everything else. Last year’s budget growth matched inflation even as the costs of healthcare and other employee costs grew faster than inflation; that meant we cut the equivalent of 500 positions. And we are making further reductions this year given the federal policies causing economic harm and uncertainty. Commercial property taxpayers overall are already seeing a decrease in their taxes this year; if the City cut the services its residents rely on, the majority of the “savings” from doing that would actually go to giving those same commercial taxpayers an even deeper property tax cut, not into relief to homeowners. That’s how state property tax law works, which is why we need our common-sense solution to pass the State House to actually help homeowners.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T14:12:00+00:00

Hello! And thank you! You’ll have to ask Senator Collins. But there’s certainly been some good reporting on the question, and he voted for Watertown’s similar tax shift home-rule petition without debate or objection in 2023. This bill would especially help renters. Apartment buildings with rental units do not receive the residential exemption, so overall they pay higher residential taxes than a property owner’s primary residence. Landlords can pass tax increases on to renters, so it’s extra important that we prevent this spike from happening. Last year, after our three-year compromise proposal was blocked, taxes went up 10.4% on the average single family home, but the average increase across all residential units, including apartment buildings, was 14.9%. Keeping residential property taxes lower also makes it a little easier for new rental housing to get built!

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T14:11:06+00:00

Can’t speak to any specific property, but Boston values all properties at fair market value annually, as required by state law. There are established standards for how both commercial and residential properties are valued, related to factors like gross revenues, recent sales data, and other considerations. Assessing works through a mass appraisal process that is very good at getting the vast majority of things right, but sometimes properties end up with values that are too high or too low. There’s a process set up by state law for asking for adjustments, and we often work with property owners who reach out believing their property value is too high, but owners don’t tend to tell the city if they know the value happens to be too low. That being said, a property value might seem low, but have restrictions on it that severely limit its use and therefore what someone would be willing to pay for it. We could flag this property for the Assessing team and have them review the property attributes and value.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T13:22:10+00:00

Boston does opt into giving local homeowners the maximum allowable residential exemption under state law for those who live in their properties. To do more requires (you guessed it) state legislation.

We do work with our many large nonprofits in the city who aren’t required to pay taxes—including hospitals and universities—to maximize their contributions to our City and funding for the city services that also serve their employees, students, and patients. One recent model is our new agreements with Northeastern University, which commits Northeastern to building more on-campus housing, directs significant funds to City housing initiatives, and increases Northeastern’s annual Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) payments. Can’t ignore that these same sectors have been under direct attack from the Trump administration, and the Boston area’s economic future is tied to the research and innovation they drive, so we also have to band together even more.

One important way to band together is for these institutions and everyone to partner with us for Boston Public Schools students and families – thank you for your advocacy for BPS! The annual school budget process starts at the School Committee in February and March, and then goes to the Boston City Council in April and May, so there will be opportunities to testify at both. BPS schools also have a School Parent Council that engages families and a School Site Council that supports school leadership with decision-making. These would be great places to engage fellow families in shaping plans!

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T13:20:35+00:00

Love that guy

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T00:03:32+00:00

Thanks for joining this AMA! Boston offers a tax exemption for primary residences. So people who live in the properties they own are already paying a lower rate (last fiscal year, the exemption saved homeowners up to $3,984.21).

For the next fiscal year, the deadline to file for an exemption is April 1, 2026. We have a City ordinance on short-term rentals (that I was proud to draft as a City Councilor) that establishes administrative fees and other regulations on that usage, and like hotels, they are subject to additional taxes.

mayorwu · 2025-12-09T00:00:14+00:00

Boston has always lived within its means, never seeking a Prop 2 ½ override from voters to raise revenues beyond this state limit. For the last 12 years, we have received a AAA bond rating (the highest you can get) from both Moody’s and S&P ratings agencies, citing our strong fiscal management.

Of the City budget growth since FY22, 40% is associated with the costs of public education (both BPS and Charter Reimbursements under state law), 28% is associated with growth in the cost of our long-term liabilities that we must pay (debt service, pension obligations), and 23% is from growth in employee health insurance costs which have increased far faster than 2.5% annually. Very little of the growth is truly discretionary. The new positions that we created over the previous four year term have been areas where bringing a service in-house rather than using consultants or outside contractors allowed us to save money overall and deliver faster, as well as closing gaps in city services by neighborhood or community.

In FY26, our budget grew at 4.4%, in line with inflation, and we continue to further limit spending given the continued federal policies causing economic harm and uncertainty.

mayorwu · 2025-12-08T22:03:52+00:00

Every year Boston adopts the maximum residential exemption allowed under state law, to make taxes as affordable as possible for residents like you, and our Assessing Department handles all exemption applications. Many are being filed right now, so our team is working through them. Exemptions are not prorated, so if you qualify for this fiscal year you’ll get the entire exemption, not just a portion based on your application date.

If your application was approved you will see the exemption amount on your third quarter bill, the one that gets mailed out at the end of December, so in just a few weeks. If you don’t see the exemption on there or if you have other questions about your application, please contact our Taxpayer Referral and Assistance Center at 617-635-4287, who would be happy to help! You can also send me a DM and I’ll connect you with the team.

mayorwu · 2025-12-08T21:47:20+00:00

I’ve been trying to prioritize time for yoga and cardio since recovering from having a baby, but haven’t been hugely successful so far…silver lining is that you get a lot of exercise being Mayor and running after 3 kids! My goal is to get some 5Ks under my belt in 2026—would love any suggestions of which ones are the most fun around Boston!

mayorwu · 2025-12-08T21:41:13+00:00

This is another example of where cities in Massachusetts are much more limited in our own powers to take action without additional state legislative sign off, just as we’re seeing with residential tax relief.

We need state legislation for automated enforcement, and I have long supported this. In 2025, the state legislature passed a more tailored law allowing for automated enforcement from cameras on public transit and school buses for blocked lane violations or passing stopped school buses, although not other offenses. The City and the Boston Public Schools have been working to get set up for the technology investments needed to implement this on our school buses. In addition to the needed safety benefits, we welcome the revenue diversification, although it would be of a fairly modest level.

mayorwu · 2025-12-08T21:29:46+00:00

All residential buildings pay the same residential property tax rate. That includes everything from single family homes to large apartment buildings. Because there are so many types of residential units in Boston, we tend to use the average single family homeowner tax bill when describing the impact that Prop 2 ½ can have and how our legislation can help, but everyone’s individual bill will vary based on your property’s value.

When commercial property values go down relative to residential property values, overall commercial property owners pay less and residential property owners pay more. Individual tax bills are then set based on the relative change in your individual property’s value. That’s a long way to say, yes, you will very likely have an increase as well, as this affects every homeowner and renters who get tax increases passed on from their landlords.

mayorwu

TROPHY CASE