And conversely, some 43 percent of respondents described city government’s efforts to keep housing affordable as “poor,” compared to just 22 percent who said they were “good” or “excellent.”
“We have an extreme housing shortage in the city and people are feeling the impact on a daily basis in the form of cutthroat competition for homes and high prices,” said Jesse Kanson-Benanav, executive director of Abundant Housing. “So I’m not surprised that there’s a desire among residents to do more and for the city to take bold action.”
Housing was one of the leading issues in this year’s mayoral race, with challenger Josh Kraft hammering Wu’s record on the issue and floating a proposal for voluntary rent caps, while Wu touted her administration’s investments in affordable housing projects. The Abundant Housing poll was conducted in August, before Kraft dropped out of the race.
In a statement, a city spokesperson said the Wu administration is tackling the housing crisis from all angles.
“Over the last three years, our administration has built more affordable housing than in a generation, made city land free for developers to keep residents and families in their homes and connected to opportunity, and begun streamlining permitting processes and updating our zoning code for more clarity and predictability,” the statement said. “As the pressure on families continues to rise amid unpredictable federal policies, the City will continue to build on our progress through innovative solutions to address the regional housing crisis and ensure Boston is a home for everyone.”
The survey suggests that housing has become such a significant issue for everyday Bostonians that many are willing to support more aggressive changes than they might have five or ten years ago.
For instance, some 80 percent of those surveyed said they support allowing Accessory Dwelling Units broadly, which are smaller, additional housing units added to the basement or backyard of an existing property, in Boston. It’s something the city has been working towards for several years, but immediately lags behind most of the rest of Massachusetts on; Governor Maura Healey’s move last year to broadly legalize ADUs on residential lots did not apply to Boston. Today, attached ADUs, inside an existing home, are allowed across the city, but detached ADUs, most often added in a backyard, are special to Mattapan.
Some 77 percent of surveyed residents said they would also support the construction of more six-story buildings. Neighboring Cambridge, earlier this year, legalized six-story buildings by right, or without special approval from a breakdown board, throughout the city, one of the more ambitious municipal housing reform efforts in the nation.
And 71 percent said they would support allowing buildings up to 12 stories near MBTA stops. The state’s MBTA Communities law, which also does not apply to Boston, targets so-called transit-oriented development, and Boston’s Square and Streets initiative is rolling out zoning for higher-density housing in key transit corridors, though progress on that program has slowed recently.
Under Wu, the city has allocated a significant portion of its federal pandemic funds to affordable housing efforts, with approximately 5,455 income-restricted units completed or under construction between 2022 and 2024. Wu’s administration has also embraced some rezoning efforts to spark new construction.
But overall, housing production has declined during Wu’s first term, partly due to higher interest rates and material costs that have slowed projects nationwide. Still, some developers blame the slowdown on Wu’s affordable housing and green energy policies, which they say have added additional expense to the already high cost of building.
As production has slowed, rents have continued to rise. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Boston last month was $2,370, according to the rental listing website Apartment List.
Kanson-Benanav said Wu’s runaway win over Kraft shows that she is broadly popular, and perhaps has the political cover to take on big, controversial housing policies.
“The mayor has strong support, and there is some pretty broad unity across the city that something needs to be done to bring down the cost of housing,” he said. ”This seems like an opportunity to take on some of the bold changes that other cities have tried.”
Andrew Brinker can be reached at andrew.brinker@globe.com. Follow him @andrewnbrinker.
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