Two things: I grew up there, but left years ago, and every time I return I’m amazed at how much things have changed, but there’s still the “missing middle” when it comes to housing. Anything livable is insanely expensive, so it’s not worth it for me to return yet. Also, no love for Dorchester? That’s the biggest section of the city!
I would argue that both brownstones and triple deckers are actually a form of missing middle housing n being the most common housing types in boston id argue their middle is not missing. Boston is a somewhat unique case when it comes to missing middle as thats what the majority of our housing units could be considered the problem is that the city has become so successful for how small it is that theres simply no way to build enough of them. It is our outter ring suburbs that are truely lacking on missing middle. Not saying these projects dont help most of them do but i think its important to recognize how unique our situation is in boston from other parts of the country. I honestly think our industrial/manufacturing sector is the most inefficient land use in boston but its a double edged sword cuz we are also hurting on blue collar jobs like that in the city nowadays so moving them to the suburbs could potentially actually widen the income inequality because the workers would likely follow them to the suburbs if they moved.
Triple deckers are definitely missing middle housing, but there’s so much demand that even those are wildly expensive these days. Continuing to build will help.
Maybe by American standards. By the standards of most of the world, it is slow and underutilized. From Turkey to Taiwan, they would build actual high-rises around transit and wouldn't leave huge empty parking oceans for people to walk across in the heat and cold.
There's crazy Cambridge construction northward of MIT/Kendall, which used to be warehouses & while it had slow growth pre-pandemic, it went bonkers post-pandemic. Practically changing by the month.
Former Dorchester resident: I grew up in different parts of Dorchester from late 1992 to 2021 and moved out of Boston after living there for nearly 30 years. Boston has been one of the most gentrification since early 2000s. Unfortunately, I was priced out.
30 years is a decent run but your story isn’t uncommon. Without substantial generational wealth, it’s going to be tough for young people to afford homes/rent in their own neighborhoods. Where did you end up?
Former JP resident: Besides some of the high rises you mentioned, most of the new construction fits the aesthetic of JP. Triple deckers with “charm.” However, the prices are astronomical. Many long time locals have stayed put, so it still has a big community feel, but for new homebuyers… good luck. Hit the Galway House for great vibes and pizza!
JP is the best. I’ve started to just accept that certain cities like Boston and neighborhoods like JP are astronomically expensive for a reason and it’s just the free market playing out. Thanks for sharing! Galway house next time!
Lived in Somerville before I moved back down south. Loved my time there and wish it were more affordable. I used to wake up Sunday mornings and walk down to Union Square Donuts. Also loved the quick access to the red line to get in and out of the city.
@@cities4ppl yep I cry everyday about the car dependency of the south. It's sad that in America there is a tradeoff. I had to sacrifice good urban planning w/ efficient public transit for affordability.
Incredible to see the transformation. I used to be student at Northeastern and lived in the South End in the very late 1980s to mid 1990s. Roxbury used to be a pretty rough place. Many thanks for the video. Much appreciated. Brought back memories of the fantastic time I had as an international college student. I used to pay $750 monthly rent on Columbus Ave in the South End back in those days!
Ok. the reason people can no longer live in the neighborhoods they grew up in, is because the cost of housing went bonkers! Boston has had a housing crisis since the 1980s. So what did a lot of towns do? (I"m talking about you, Newton!!) They specifically passed low growth or no growth zoning regulations, where everybody and their brother gets to veto anything that gets built. They also prohibited any apartments over retail establishments. The result is that all over Boston, not just Newton, you see squares and intersections with 1 story retail establishments and some 3 deckers near by. If you look in old photos, you see that nothings really changed. In the meantime, you've had the schools around Boston grow like crazy, and attract more out of state students who have parents with lots of money. So as soon as they're able to, (Usually sophomore, but sometime in their senior year) they move off campus with some of their friends or at least acquaintances. These students are able to afford to pay 1000 a month in rent, even if the apartment is shambolic. Pack in 5-6 students and the landlord can collect 5-6k in rent a month. There's no way a working class family can afford that. Combine that with the limited or no development of new apartments and you have families displaced like crazy. (It takes 5-6 years to get a parcel through the development and approval process in Boston thanks to the 4000 page zoning &building code guidelines, which with that many pages, someone will find something to stall your development.) Someone was trying to get a 1500 apartment development in North Quincy through the zoning process, wound up shaving it down to 1000, and then 500 and then gave up on the project. And who was it who is responsible for this? Largely all the residents of Greater Boston who show up to the zoning meetings. Some if not all fail to understand that unless their kid is lucky enough to found a start up that makes money like crazy, their going to have to go to another time zone to visit their kids. Things have gotten so expensive that one of the recent million dollar lottery winners said he could finally afford to buy a house. That's not good.
The thing that amazes me out here in the western us is the fact that even some of Boston's outer suburbs are relatively dense and walkable like say Arlington. From what I understand, Boston is a little behind on bike infrastructure compared to west coast cities like San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, but makes up for it with superior urban form.
Boston is the most European city in America. And yes, even the suburbs are very livable/walkable. Very easy to recognize why it has crazy high cost of living.
I lived in Eastie from 2017-2019. In the years since I visited a few times and every time I did I saw new and renovated apartments everywhere. I also found Eastie to be similar to Brooklyn in some ways.
I think one of the best things we could do to help the housing crisis here is moving the state capital to either worcester or springfield. Culturally speaking it would be kinda sad to see but it would move lots of people jobs and traffic westward where life is cheaper and less pressure on housing stock. Bostons economy is strong enough that it doesnt need the benefits that come along with being capital as much as worcester/springfield could and it likely even puts more strain on the city than it offers as benefit at this point . It would also free up those state buildings already in boston for other uses. The only downside i see is that some of the big business hq’d in boston may not want the capital further away for lobbying purposes.
I’ve somehow not heard of this take yet until now. But it makes sense to me - other parts of Mass could benefit more as the capital meanwhile it’s almost diminishing returns for Boston. Good stuff.
@@cities4ppl ik its interesting cuz there have been a couple articles written about it overtime but not many and the idea never caught traction for some reason. I think either the articles just weren’t distributed enough at the time of release and have remained forgotten since then so people just truly dont know about this idea or its because boston is just so synonymous with massachusetts that people just cant imagine it any other way but if its the latter than that is pretty silly reasoning. I appreciate u actually replying tho i didnt expect that. I subbed to ur channel btw and checked out some other videos too it’s definitely up my alley im gonna be staying tuned
I grew up in Scituate on the South Shore, went away for college and came back, and had lived in and around Boston until 1999/2000 when the prices got to where I thought it wasn't worth it, and moved out of state! Last place I lived was an older garden apartment in Arlington, right on Mass. Ave., which was a freezing cold wind tunnel every winter. I couldn't stand it!
Almost all of new housing projects, including so called luxury ones look extremely cheap and tacky. Some of those won't last more than two decades. Clearly we lost our ability to build decent buildings. Utter shame.
I'm in construction and I'm telling you I would not want to live in their faux luxury apartments Looks nice on the outside but everything in the walls and the materials are cheap. Includes the plumbing and electrical, people will live here issue free for 5 years or so and then the problems come
@@devonforsure260 Gentrification in the 1980s and 90s - buy an old bowfront or three-decker and fix it up. Gentrification today means buy out a whole city block, knock it down and build cheap 5 over 1 luxury apartments at nosebleed prices! Then there's the issue of knocking down a six-pack with a yard and cramming in three singles, like in that one photo from JP
I grew up in Somerville it’s not a neighborhood of Boston anymore. Lived there my whole life. It’s still 617. I was priced out after 38yrs. From Union sq. Plus assembly is terrible bring good times back
People from Somerville MA do not consider themselves Bostonians, having lived there for years. It is a suburb of Boston. It used to be called Slumerville.
Yeah I realize that technically may not be true within the Boston metro area. I meant if someone from Somerville had to explain where they live to someone not familiar w Boston. I should have further clarified.
Yeah I was going to say, people in Somerville hate it so much to be called "a neighborhood of Boston" or even worse "Camberville". Using those terms is a good way to get written off by most folks here.
True. But Somerville is still very much a part of the Boston retail space in a way that “true” suburbs aren’t. Somerville isn’t even really a suburb. Places like Jamaica Plain are more suburban
The one thing no one mentions when talking about housing is that all the housing being built in cities is for RENT only not for purchase. People can not build wealth when renting and have no investment in their community because they do not own. Housing needs to built that people can purchase!
@@davidpolansky5848 I think the point is that if you are paying 5k/mo rent you get zero return. Also renters are notorious for having less care about the neighborhood they live. They are more noisy and less inclined to care for surroundings, e.g. less likely to pick up trash in front of their apartment compare to owners.
@@NuncNuncNuncNunc Paying a mortgage, plus property tax, plus maintenance, is a lot more expensive than renting. If the rent is 5k, then the mortgage plus property tax is about 9.5k. (Assumed a price-to-rent ratio of 30 = house price 1.6m, down payment of $320,000.) Assuming you're rich and can afford either, you have the choice between putting 9.5k/mo towards a house, or 5k/mo towards rent and 4.5k/mo towards other investments, plus the $320k down payment. I don't know which is better, but that's only because I don't know whether or not Boston real estate will outperform stocks and bonds. Renters aren't "notorious" because owning a house magically makes you a better citizen. Rather, they're more likely to be poor, young, and without children, all of which are risk factors for notoriety.
Nice video showing the before/after. Unfortunately the greater Boston region is failing to build enough housing, especially in the suburbs with so much exclusionary zoning. Boston and DC used to have similar rents but Boston prices have skyrocketed. DC is still expensive but is much more manageable due to more more housing being built and TOD not just in the city but in the suburbs as well. Good rent cost comparison for equivalent neighborhoods is DC Navy Yard vs. Boston Seaport.
Absolutely! It’s funny it was actually pretty difficult to find new developments to highlight. The fact of the matter is - the same old crappy duplex looks the exact same since 1965 but is significantly more $$$. But Boston has so much good going for it, people are willing to pay.
you can still buy a studio in silver spring for 1800 - 2100. you can go even lower if youre ok living around grungy neighborhoods. they are also building the purple line, which will probably add even more MUCH needed housing in the area
Americans actually believe this represents fast change. Most of the world builds real high-rises in cities - particularly near transit - and don't waste space with surface parking, the ugly heat sink. Most places just build sufficient housing near buses or subways that run without constant delays. Most of the world just does it without all the bending over for drivers and eternal griping about "gentrification" and thus they don't have the stupid rents that we do. Oh, and, yes, you have to pay more to live in a better location. What a shocking and unfair thing! Maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal if the buildings around our T stations weren't mostly three stories high. One gets the idea that Americans - Left and Right - just don't travel much.
Its crazy that when I was in College in Vermont (in Burlington, largest city there) I was spending $600/month for a 3 story house with 4 people living there. Moved to Boston to start my career, now I'm paying $1300 for a cramped 1 story apt w/ no deck or patio with 3 people living there. I hate cities with a passion but I do need to start my career somewhere.
The first development in "Roxbury" is in Mission Hill, which has been home to Northeastern students since the 2000s. You can say that is a gentrification apartment building for sure (I can't afford it), but it's not in Roxbury. The Upham's Corner one is a high percentage of affordable units, so I don't understand how that's gentrification? The one after that on Dudley St also has a high percentage of affordable units. With regard to Roxbury, there hasn't been a lot of unaffordable development, so I would argue the bigger threat is people buying cheap multi-family homes and converting them to single families, or high-income people moving to current Roxbury apartments because it's cheap and displacing other people who can't afford to live elsewhere. This has been happening in Cambridge and Somerville a lot, you'll see 3-family "triple-deckers" get converted into single family 5 beds that go for upwards of 1.5 million dollars. Doing that should be illegal IMO
When this development is on land that was empty or had an old auto repair shop the excuse for the generic buildings,lack of green space and displacement is "look what was there." This is "transformative."They are boons to developers and high end transients. The massive development (the worst of which is the outskirts of the seaport district)where grotesque,oversized buildings are the norm contributes to traffic congestion,displacement and global warming.Asphalt at seaport is a recipe for flooding.Criticism of the disaster is met with"it was just parking lots and rail tracks." When we have a clean slate could we not consider doing things more in the public interest? There needs to be more than a fer crumbs for affordable housing. This problem dates back to urban "renewal" where neighborhoods were razed to make way for ugly development or have been sitting empty(Barry's Corner,NY Streets section of the South End etc. The worship of "development" clearly has downsides.
I think the edge of Roslindale and Jamaica Plain is worth attention. That area has changed so much. I couldn't imagine trying to get an apartment near there anymore. Update: I saw the annotations and thought places had been skipped.
Great to see some Appartment blocks getting build for low income and below marked rate appartments. About those luxury appartments. They seem ultra luxury but if many single family homes cost 700.000 and up then a 500.000 Dollar appartments isn't that expensive
I’m 25 miles north of Boston and have lived here for 20 years now. Gentrification is starting to claim a lot of the old mill buildings in Lowell for loft conversion. Although the rents for them are lower than in town, they’re too expensive for most locals. The student population is also driving up rents for everyone else.
Because of Boston and surrounding communities desire to welcome business, traffic and development has exploded everywhere. It’s really sad. Lots of open space and woods gone. No real planning. New Hampshire is just a bedroom community for Boston and is now nothing more than housing developments and strip malls.
hey man. Fantastic video. I'm working on a essay on gentrification and urban renewal. Wondering if you have any recommendation on academic literature on that.
There is truly an endless amount of research on the subject. Funnily enough - you’ll find different conclusions about displacement and affordability. Each city goes about it differently.
the places in east boston are ok, because the blue line subway is only one stop from the airport or if going the other way 1 stop from downtown boston financial district
The area around the Ink Block in the south end is an unbelievably good transformation. Although January and February are freezing cold, Boston is one of the best cities in the U.S to live in without the filth, crime, and corruption of other blue cities.
Its incredibly morally wrong to build luxury apartments that are priced outside of the average population. Someone who is rich will never suffer from the housing crisis because they can afford a home anywhere. The rest cant afford a home inside of the same neighborhood we grew up in
Building more housing is morally wrong? No. Restricting development is morally wrong. You want prices to go down? Encourage development! Otherwise realize the water you're throwing on the fire is in fact gasoline.
Not Boston, but Arsenal Yards in Watertown is unrecognizable as is Western Ave into Allston. The development is badly needed. The issue, it seems, is that everything that is being built seems to be "luxury" apartments. $3K/month for a studio isn't a workable solution.
I’m waiting for the real estate fallout in Boston. The poster here mentioned the new construction homes going for $1.2m, and that was actually roslindale, not JP. $1.4m was probably the price of a new house in JP over the past year. And for that, you get…not much. The greenspace in the neighborhood is decent. The restaurants are falling like flies, though (the stretch outside of Forest Hills T station used to be nice, now places are dropping like flies there, like The Dogwood). And you can forget about trying to go into CVS or 7/11 without getting past a loiterer gauntlet. I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s some sort of return to office incentive program that local governments are trying to dish out to businesses, because untethered to a geographical location, there’s really no reason to pay these exorbitant prices. I’ve seen better living conditions in neighborhoods whose homes are a quarter the price of what you’d pay to live in JP
How do you talk about Boston gentrification and not bring up Southie? its the most gentrified neighborhood in the city. Southie should've replaced Somerville on this list since its a city and not a Boston neighborhood.
Adding more housing is not going to help lower costs. The more they build, the more people will come, making Boston more congested. The Boston metro area takes in over 300,000 students a year, and many of them, every year, want to stay after they graduate.
While I agree - the fact of the matter remains that the prices are not lowering. So these “luxury” buildings are kind of the poster child although they aren’t directly responsible for displacement.
If I could live in any two metros near or in the city in a decent place, they would be Chicago and Boston. But wow am I not successful enough yet for either. And you can still live in some of those places without higher income if you’re willing to be in a tiny tiny place while still paying a fairly high amount for them. But I guess for now I’d rather just have some space, amenities, and a little money to go out and experience life with some activities. But wow would be nice to have the income to live in some of these places. I’m all for gentrification though surprisingly. Even if I can afford some of these places, I’d rather see them cleaned up and nice than abandoned industrial or other blighted spaces.
The Ink block did not start the gentrification of the South End. It came at the end of the gentrification of the South End. You are obviously not a Bostonian.
I hope Boston continues to build more housing. They need to stop working on ridiculous and counterintuitive garbage like rent control and keep building more units. That’s the only way prices will come down
There is a near infinite pool of people willing to move to Boston and pay 1mil for a 2 bed condo. There is a fallacy that by simply building more housing, prices will come down. Boston is a city with expanding medical, academic and high tech opportunities. As long as amrket forces are the only driver, new housing will be aimed at satisfying the higher end of the market.
Interesting video, but dude, if you’re not from the place, don’t try to encapsulate what the people who live there think. I’m here referring to how you frankly state that Somervillians consider themselves as “ Bostonians.” They don’t. Old Sonervillains certainly never would, and likewise the new ones are absolutely Somerville identity oriented. so while you are not wrong that often Somerville is considered in the larger metro area metrics of Boston, identity wise it is distinct in diversity, cultural, enclaves, history, and just about every social metric that makes a place substantive enough to call home. Which is one of the reasons people will pick somerville rather than Boston, beyond just price. But it’s tacky to not be from a place and then try to lay claim and clout like you understand what the people believe. Especially when you’re that far off.
Lived in the SouthEnd in the mid 90s to about 2001. Largely gentrified by the LGBTQ community…..was the absolute coolest neighborhood. Never saw a stroller or that many kids. Went back a few years ago and saw one $1000 stroller after another, little kids running around everywhere. The gays made it cool, then many were priced out, especially renters. Hey breeders, next time put-in the hard work yourself and find your own neighborhood to park your strollers.
@@SevenRiderAirForce why would you blame people that put in investment and work to improve the neighborhood then had to move because they couldn’t afford it anymore?
@@davidhyman1855 You said it was gentrified by LGBTQ people...who then themselves got gentrified out. You don't have a problem with gentrifiers, you have a problem with "breeders." Not really a sympathetic argument there.
Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles. Safe protected bike lanes and trails are needed so adults and children can ride safely. Speak up for bicycles in your community. Bicycles make life and cities better. Ask your local transportation planner and elected officials to support more protected bike lanes and trails. Children should be riding a bicycle to school and not be driven in a minivan.
All housing is good housing, idk why you had such a negative tone about "luxury apartments". Are developers supposed to purposefully make the apartments bad?
Low income housing doesn't stop people from being priced out of their neighborhood that enables people not to workand caters to only a specific group of people
@cities4ppl if you make 30000 a year as a single person you don't qualify for low income housing in Massachusetts. So your 30000 a year ass is still subject to 1500 a month minimum average on rent
Bicycles make life and cities better. Ask your local transportation planner and elected officials to support more safe, protected bike lanes and trails. Every child should be able to ride a bicycle to school safely.
We need to make room for the Lived Black Experience. These new projects must be reserved for those who built our country, I.e. the Blacks. No other group has played such an important role in history as the Blacks.
Two things: I grew up there, but left years ago, and every time I return I’m amazed at how much things have changed, but there’s still the “missing middle” when it comes to housing. Anything livable is insanely expensive, so it’s not worth it for me to return yet. Also, no love for Dorchester? That’s the biggest section of the city!
I was a little shocked myself when I was there recently. Dorchester could absolutely be on this list. Someone had to be left out!
I would argue that both brownstones and triple deckers are actually a form of missing middle housing n being the most common housing types in boston id argue their middle is not missing. Boston is a somewhat unique case when it comes to missing middle as thats what the majority of our housing units could be considered the problem is that the city has become so successful for how small it is that theres simply no way to build enough of them. It is our outter ring suburbs that are truely lacking on missing middle. Not saying these projects dont help most of them do but i think its important to recognize how unique our situation is in boston from other parts of the country. I honestly think our industrial/manufacturing sector is the most inefficient land use in boston but its a double edged sword cuz we are also hurting on blue collar jobs like that in the city nowadays so moving them to the suburbs could potentially actually widen the income inequality because the workers would likely follow them to the suburbs if they moved.
they should consider building attachments ontop of historic buildings if they don't want to demolish them. the city needs more housing asap
You're absolutely right. Boston is one of the few cities that was created in large with "the missing middle". @@notmyname9625
Triple deckers are definitely missing middle housing, but there’s so much demand that even those are wildly expensive these days. Continuing to build will help.
I wish you had done Cambridge. The construction that is going on near Alewife is mind-blowing.
Maybe by American standards. By the standards of most of the world, it is slow and underutilized. From Turkey to Taiwan, they would build actual high-rises around transit and wouldn't leave huge empty parking oceans for people to walk across in the heat and cold.
There's crazy Cambridge construction northward of MIT/Kendall, which used to be warehouses & while it had slow growth pre-pandemic, it went bonkers post-pandemic. Practically changing by the month.
Former Dorchester resident:
I grew up in different parts of Dorchester from late 1992 to 2021 and moved out of Boston after living there for nearly 30 years. Boston has been one of the most gentrification since early 2000s. Unfortunately, I was priced out.
30 years is a decent run but your story isn’t uncommon. Without substantial generational wealth, it’s going to be tough for young people to afford homes/rent in their own neighborhoods. Where did you end up?
@@cities4pplI moved out of state in Connecticut.
Former JP resident:
Besides some of the high rises you mentioned, most of the new construction fits the aesthetic of JP. Triple deckers with “charm.” However, the prices are astronomical. Many long time locals have stayed put, so it still has a big community feel, but for new homebuyers… good luck. Hit the Galway House for great vibes and pizza!
JP is the best. I’ve started to just accept that certain cities like Boston and neighborhoods like JP are astronomically expensive for a reason and it’s just the free market playing out. Thanks for sharing! Galway house next time!
JP'er here, since '85...The Galway is unpretentious, wicked good prices, and the bestest food ever!
Lol Galway house pizza is such good value but the rest of the food was shockingly bland, like they were allergic to seasonings
Lived in Somerville before I moved back down south. Loved my time there and wish it were more affordable. I used to wake up Sunday mornings and walk down to Union Square Donuts. Also loved the quick access to the red line to get in and out of the city.
We really enjoyed our time in Somerville. Even East Somerville is starting to pick up. Must have been a tough adjustment moving to the south eh?
@@cities4ppl yep I cry everyday about the car dependency of the south. It's sad that in America there is a tradeoff. I had to sacrifice good urban planning w/ efficient public transit for affordability.
Damn this hits hard. Good premise for a video, actually!
I used to live in Boston's South End for many years, but the rents went TOO high and I had to move to another neighborhood. I miss it.
Incredible to see the transformation. I used to be student at Northeastern and lived in the South End in the very late 1980s to mid 1990s. Roxbury used to be a pretty rough place. Many thanks for the video. Much appreciated. Brought back memories of the fantastic time I had as an international college student. I used to pay $750 monthly rent on Columbus Ave in the South End back in those days!
Ok. the reason people can no longer live in the neighborhoods they grew up in, is because the cost of housing went bonkers! Boston has had a housing crisis since the 1980s. So what did a lot of towns do? (I"m talking about you, Newton!!) They specifically passed low growth or no growth zoning regulations, where everybody and their brother gets to veto anything that gets built. They also prohibited any apartments over retail establishments. The result is that all over Boston, not just Newton, you see squares and intersections with 1 story retail establishments and some 3 deckers near by. If you look in old photos, you see that nothings really changed. In the meantime, you've had the schools around Boston grow like crazy, and attract more out of state students who have parents with lots of money. So as soon as they're able to, (Usually sophomore, but sometime in their senior year) they move off campus with some of their friends or at least acquaintances. These students are able to afford to pay 1000 a month in rent, even if the apartment is shambolic. Pack in 5-6 students and the landlord can collect 5-6k in rent a month. There's no way a working class family can afford that. Combine that with the limited or no development of new apartments and you have families displaced like crazy. (It takes 5-6 years to get a parcel through the development and approval process in Boston thanks to the 4000 page zoning &building code guidelines, which with that many pages, someone will find something to stall your development.) Someone was trying to get a 1500 apartment development in North Quincy through the zoning process, wound up shaving it down to 1000, and then 500 and then gave up on the project. And who was it who is responsible for this? Largely all the residents of Greater Boston who show up to the zoning meetings. Some if not all fail to understand that unless their kid is lucky enough to found a start up that makes money like crazy, their going to have to go to another time zone to visit their kids. Things have gotten so expensive that one of the recent million dollar lottery winners said he could finally afford to buy a house. That's not good.
Radio Boston has been doing a lot of programs on Boston housing. check those out.
The thing that amazes me out here in the western us is the fact that even some of Boston's outer suburbs are relatively dense and walkable like say Arlington. From what I understand, Boston is a little behind on bike infrastructure compared to west coast cities like San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, but makes up for it with superior urban form.
Boston is the most European city in America. And yes, even the suburbs are very livable/walkable. Very easy to recognize why it has crazy high cost of living.
Arlington isn’t an outer suburb at all lol. It doesn’t have subway access, but it’s still very close into the city
West coast weather is better suited to year round bike commutes. Only the hardcore can rely solely on a bike for their daily transportation in Boston.
Bike infrastructure Lol!
Boston isn’t and never will be Copenhagen
I lived in Eastie from 2017-2019. In the years since I visited a few times and every time I did I saw new and renovated apartments everywhere. I also found Eastie to be similar to Brooklyn in some ways.
Is the airport/airplane noise an issue?
@@cities4ppl I lived near Airport station on the T. The noise was noticeable but I got used to it and never felt it was too loud.
Minimal airport noise in the Jeffries Point part of East Boston - it is a no flyover. I love it there.
I simultaneously both gentrified and was priced out of Mission Hill, part of Roxbury.
Where did you end up moving to?
I think one of the best things we could do to help the housing crisis here is moving the state capital to either worcester or springfield. Culturally speaking it would be kinda sad to see but it would move lots of people jobs and traffic westward where life is cheaper and less pressure on housing stock. Bostons economy is strong enough that it doesnt need the benefits that come along with being capital as much as worcester/springfield could and it likely even puts more strain on the city than it offers as benefit at this point . It would also free up those state buildings already in boston for other uses. The only downside i see is that some of the big business hq’d in boston may not want the capital further away for lobbying purposes.
Honestly even moving it as far west as pittsfield may not be a bad idea
I’ve somehow not heard of this take yet until now. But it makes sense to me - other parts of Mass could benefit more as the capital meanwhile it’s almost diminishing returns for Boston. Good stuff.
@@cities4ppl ik its interesting cuz there have been a couple articles written about it overtime but not many and the idea never caught traction for some reason. I think either the articles just weren’t distributed enough at the time of release and have remained forgotten since then so people just truly dont know about this idea or its because boston is just so synonymous with massachusetts that people just cant imagine it any other way but if its the latter than that is pretty silly reasoning. I appreciate u actually replying tho i didnt expect that. I subbed to ur channel btw and checked out some other videos too it’s definitely up my alley im gonna be staying tuned
@@cities4ppl maybe you should do a video on it
It’s a great topic, actually! I appreciate you watching and providing feedback.
I grew up in Scituate on the South Shore, went away for college and came back, and had lived in and around Boston until 1999/2000 when the prices got to where I thought it wasn't worth it, and moved out of state! Last place I lived was an older garden apartment in Arlington, right on Mass. Ave., which was a freezing cold wind tunnel every winter. I couldn't stand it!
I’ve lived in inkblock and and still work in the area - holy shit I can’t get over how different the area looked pre development!
Almost all of new housing projects, including so called luxury ones look extremely cheap and tacky. Some of those won't last more than two decades. Clearly we lost our ability to build decent buildings. Utter shame.
I'm in construction and I'm telling you I would not want to live in their faux luxury apartments
Looks nice on the outside but everything in the walls and the materials are cheap. Includes the plumbing and electrical, people will live here issue free for 5 years or so and then the problems come
@@devonforsure260 Thank you for exposing this gimmick as an insider. My thoughts exactly.
@@ramochai it's by design. There are carbon copies of these so-called luxury units all over the state.
That's gentrification for ya...
@@devonforsure260 Gentrification in the 1980s and 90s - buy an old bowfront or three-decker and fix it up. Gentrification today means buy out a whole city block, knock it down and build cheap 5 over 1 luxury apartments at nosebleed prices!
Then there's the issue of knocking down a six-pack with a yard and cramming in three singles, like in that one photo from JP
I grew up in Somerville it’s not a neighborhood of Boston anymore. Lived there my whole life. It’s still 617. I was priced out after 38yrs. From Union sq. Plus assembly is terrible bring good times back
somerville never was part of Boston
People from Somerville MA do not consider themselves Bostonians, having lived there for years. It is a suburb of Boston. It used to be called Slumerville.
Yeah I realize that technically may not be true within the Boston metro area. I meant if someone from Somerville had to explain where they live to someone not familiar w Boston. I should have further clarified.
Some of us do though. I grew up in the Somerville Boston Cambridge line in union sq
They consider themselves metro Bostonians but yeah it’s a seperate city. Even people from Providence RI consider themselves metro Bostonians
Yeah I was going to say, people in Somerville hate it so much to be called "a neighborhood of Boston" or even worse "Camberville". Using those terms is a good way to get written off by most folks here.
True. But Somerville is still very much a part of the Boston retail space in a way that “true” suburbs aren’t. Somerville isn’t even really a suburb. Places like Jamaica Plain are more suburban
The one thing no one mentions when talking about housing is that all the housing being built in cities is for RENT only not for purchase. People can not build wealth when renting and have no investment in their community because they do not own. Housing needs to built that people can purchase!
people can build wealth while renting! real estate is not the only asset class!
@@davidpolansky5848 I think the point is that if you are paying 5k/mo rent you get zero return. Also renters are notorious for having less care about the neighborhood they live. They are more noisy and less inclined to care for surroundings, e.g. less likely to pick up trash in front of their apartment compare to owners.
@@NuncNuncNuncNunc Paying a mortgage, plus property tax, plus maintenance, is a lot more expensive than renting. If the rent is 5k, then the mortgage plus property tax is about 9.5k. (Assumed a price-to-rent ratio of 30 = house price 1.6m, down payment of $320,000.) Assuming you're rich and can afford either, you have the choice between putting 9.5k/mo towards a house, or 5k/mo towards rent and 4.5k/mo towards other investments, plus the $320k down payment. I don't know which is better, but that's only because I don't know whether or not Boston real estate will outperform stocks and bonds.
Renters aren't "notorious" because owning a house magically makes you a better citizen. Rather, they're more likely to be poor, young, and without children, all of which are risk factors for notoriety.
Nice video showing the before/after. Unfortunately the greater Boston region is failing to build enough housing, especially in the suburbs with so much exclusionary zoning. Boston and DC used to have similar rents but Boston prices have skyrocketed. DC is still expensive but is much more manageable due to more more housing being built and TOD not just in the city but in the suburbs as well. Good rent cost comparison for equivalent neighborhoods is DC Navy Yard vs. Boston Seaport.
Absolutely! It’s funny it was actually pretty difficult to find new developments to highlight. The fact of the matter is - the same old crappy duplex looks the exact same since 1965 but is significantly more $$$. But Boston has so much good going for it, people are willing to pay.
you can still buy a studio in silver spring for 1800 - 2100. you can go even lower if youre ok living around grungy neighborhoods. they are also building the purple line, which will probably add even more MUCH needed housing in the area
Americans actually believe this represents fast change. Most of the world builds real high-rises in cities - particularly near transit - and don't waste space with surface parking, the ugly heat sink. Most places just build sufficient housing near buses or subways that run without constant delays. Most of the world just does it without all the bending over for drivers and eternal griping about "gentrification" and thus they don't have the stupid rents that we do. Oh, and, yes, you have to pay more to live in a better location. What a shocking and unfair thing! Maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal if the buildings around our T stations weren't mostly three stories high. One gets the idea that Americans - Left and Right - just don't travel much.
Its crazy that when I was in College in Vermont (in Burlington, largest city there) I was spending $600/month for a 3 story house with 4 people living there. Moved to Boston to start my career, now I'm paying $1300 for a cramped 1 story apt w/ no deck or patio with 3 people living there. I hate cities with a passion but I do need to start my career somewhere.
The first development in "Roxbury" is in Mission Hill, which has been home to Northeastern students since the 2000s. You can say that is a gentrification apartment building for sure (I can't afford it), but it's not in Roxbury. The Upham's Corner one is a high percentage of affordable units, so I don't understand how that's gentrification? The one after that on Dudley St also has a high percentage of affordable units. With regard to Roxbury, there hasn't been a lot of unaffordable development, so I would argue the bigger threat is people buying cheap multi-family homes and converting them to single families, or high-income people moving to current Roxbury apartments because it's cheap and displacing other people who can't afford to live elsewhere. This has been happening in Cambridge and Somerville a lot, you'll see 3-family "triple-deckers" get converted into single family 5 beds that go for upwards of 1.5 million dollars. Doing that should be illegal IMO
95 Saint Alphonsus is also in Mission Hill, not Jamaica Plain
When this development is on land that was empty or had an old auto repair shop the excuse for the generic buildings,lack of green space and displacement is "look what was there." This is "transformative."They are boons to developers and high end transients.
The massive development (the worst of which is the outskirts of the seaport district)where grotesque,oversized buildings are the norm contributes to traffic congestion,displacement and global warming.Asphalt at seaport is a recipe for flooding.Criticism of the disaster is met with"it was just parking lots and rail tracks."
When we have a clean slate could we not consider doing things more in the public interest?
There needs to be more than a fer crumbs for affordable housing.
This problem dates back to urban "renewal" where neighborhoods were razed to make way for ugly development or have been sitting empty(Barry's Corner,NY Streets section of the South End etc.
The worship of "development" clearly has downsides.
I think the edge of Roslindale and Jamaica Plain is worth attention. That area has changed so much. I couldn't imagine trying to get an apartment near there anymore.
Update: I saw the annotations and thought places had been skipped.
Great to see some Appartment blocks getting build for low income and below marked rate appartments.
About those luxury appartments. They seem ultra luxury but if many single family homes cost 700.000 and up then a 500.000 Dollar appartments isn't that expensive
I’m 25 miles north of Boston and have lived here for 20 years now. Gentrification is starting to claim a lot of the old mill buildings in Lowell for loft conversion. Although the rents for them are lower than in town, they’re too expensive for most locals. The student population is also driving up rents for everyone else.
Walking, running, bicycles, escooters, green open spaces, electric buses and trams are all parts of a good transportation system
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Because of Boston and surrounding communities desire to welcome business, traffic and development has exploded everywhere. It’s really sad. Lots of open space and woods gone. No real planning. New Hampshire is just a bedroom community for Boston and is now nothing more than housing developments and strip malls.
you should do new haven CT. home of yale sandwiched between new york and boston. crazy development here
South End was gentrified 20 years ago, Ink Block was just the last to go
I just wish the buildings weren't so ugly.
hey man. Fantastic video. I'm working on a essay on gentrification and urban renewal. Wondering if you have any recommendation on academic literature on that.
There is truly an endless amount of research on the subject. Funnily enough - you’ll find different conclusions about displacement and affordability. Each city goes about it differently.
Regarding urban places on the east coast, take a goooood look at Halifax...
The population growth there redefines the term "rapid."
Why no episode on Toronto, you know the fastest growing and changing city in North America. currently there is 250 cranes in the Toronto area
Questions: average prices for new apartments, vacancy rates, percent full time residency
the places in east boston are ok, because the blue line subway is only one stop from the airport or if going the other way 1 stop from downtown boston financial district
Don't forget Chelsea, Revere and Everett, there is a lot of new developments
The area around the Ink Block in the south end is an unbelievably good transformation. Although January and February are freezing cold, Boston is one of the best cities in the U.S to live in without the filth, crime, and corruption of other blue cities.
Its incredibly morally wrong to build luxury apartments that are priced outside of the average population. Someone who is rich will never suffer from the housing crisis because they can afford a home anywhere. The rest cant afford a home inside of the same neighborhood we grew up in
Building more housing is morally wrong? No. Restricting development is morally wrong. You want prices to go down? Encourage development! Otherwise realize the water you're throwing on the fire is in fact gasoline.
Next time you're in our fair city, check out the changes in my neighborhood, Brighton.
Holy-moley.
Not Boston, but Arsenal Yards in Watertown is unrecognizable as is Western Ave into Allston. The development is badly needed. The issue, it seems, is that everything that is being built seems to be "luxury" apartments. $3K/month for a studio isn't a workable solution.
I’m waiting for the real estate fallout in Boston. The poster here mentioned the new construction homes going for $1.2m, and that was actually roslindale, not JP. $1.4m was probably the price of a new house in JP over the past year.
And for that, you get…not much. The greenspace in the neighborhood is decent. The restaurants are falling like flies, though (the stretch outside of Forest Hills T station used to be nice, now places are dropping like flies there, like The Dogwood). And you can forget about trying to go into CVS or 7/11 without getting past a loiterer gauntlet.
I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s some sort of return to office incentive program that local governments are trying to dish out to businesses, because untethered to a geographical location, there’s really no reason to pay these exorbitant prices. I’ve seen better living conditions in neighborhoods whose homes are a quarter the price of what you’d pay to live in JP
How do you talk about Boston gentrification and not bring up Southie? its the most gentrified neighborhood in the city. Southie should've replaced Somerville on this list since its a city and not a Boston neighborhood.
How does Boston FEEL - say now, compared to 10 years ago?
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name...
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Adding more housing is not going to help lower costs. The more they build, the more people will come, making Boston more congested. The Boston metro area takes in over 300,000 students a year, and many of them, every year, want to stay after they graduate.
I was born and raised in boston 80s 90s 2005 all the same mostly shit change in 2010
We need to end the myth that building “luxury” apartments raises rent. More housing = lower prices. It’s not about the type
While I agree - the fact of the matter remains that the prices are not lowering. So these “luxury” buildings are kind of the poster child although they aren’t directly responsible for displacement.
They do raise the rent and screw the market if your city suddenly begins attracting elite from overseas and turns itself a money laundering scheme.
Why aren’t prices lowering?
Boston is building more housing. Are rents coming down?
All these buildings are so small. Why so little ambition?
It's out of concern for the character of the neighborhood. It can be hard to get a high-rise approved given, e.g., neighbors' opposition.
Homes in Southend cost more then 2 Million Dollars sometimes even 4 or 5 Million.
Don't blame people for living in a 1 Million Dollar Condo.
If I could live in any two metros near or in the city in a decent place, they would be Chicago and Boston. But wow am I not successful enough yet for either. And you can still live in some of those places without higher income if you’re willing to be in a tiny tiny place while still paying a fairly high amount for them. But I guess for now I’d rather just have some space, amenities, and a little money to go out and experience life with some activities. But wow would be nice to have the income to live in some of these places. I’m all for gentrification though surprisingly. Even if I can afford some of these places, I’d rather see them cleaned up and nice than abandoned industrial or other blighted spaces.
Deadly greenville
Should've added Seaport
The Ink block did not start the gentrification of the South End. It came at the end of the gentrification of the South End. You are obviously not a Bostonian.
Dont be mad at him. He does multiple cities. Its not important if he gets everything right
Restore the old elevated lines
No bike lanes: FAIL
Getting there!
@@cities4ppl Yeah, I saw some paint.
th-cam.com/video/XyA9JLz5Iqs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=vVgeNgXgaAxgzps4
geez these architects are so uninspired
Cities evolve, people get screwed, oh well, whatever.
I hope Boston continues to build more housing. They need to stop working on ridiculous and counterintuitive garbage like rent control and keep building more units. That’s the only way prices will come down
They need to build taller buildings without compromising on quality, really need to ditch those height limits in some parts of the city
There is a near infinite pool of people willing to move to Boston and pay 1mil for a 2 bed condo. There is a fallacy that by simply building more housing, prices will come down. Boston is a city with expanding medical, academic and high tech opportunities. As long as amrket forces are the only driver, new housing will be aimed at satisfying the higher end of the market.
I thought they got rid of rent control back in the mid 1990s by state ballot question!
I liked some of the ‘befores’ better.
Almost zero culture left in Boston. I’m glad I left and moved 40 minutes north. The vibe is just dead and everything is over-priced.
Yeah, the video clearly shows how 'dead' the city is, lol
@@tommorrissey4726are you being sarcastic? I genuinely can’t tell sorry
Interesting video, but dude, if you’re not from the place, don’t try to encapsulate what the people who live there think. I’m here referring to how you frankly state that Somervillians consider themselves as “ Bostonians.” They don’t. Old Sonervillains certainly never would, and likewise the new ones are absolutely Somerville identity oriented. so while you are not wrong that often Somerville is considered in the larger metro area metrics of Boston, identity wise it is distinct in diversity, cultural, enclaves, history, and just about every social metric that makes a place substantive enough to call home. Which is one of the reasons people will pick somerville rather than Boston, beyond just price.
But it’s tacky to not be from a place and then try to lay claim and clout like you understand what the people believe. Especially when you’re that far off.
Lived in the SouthEnd in the mid 90s to about 2001. Largely gentrified by the LGBTQ community…..was the absolute coolest neighborhood. Never saw a stroller or that many kids. Went back a few years ago and saw one $1000 stroller after another, little kids running around everywhere. The gays made it cool, then many were priced out, especially renters. Hey breeders, next time put-in the hard work yourself and find your own neighborhood to park your strollers.
Many moved from the South End to Jamaica Plain.
No blame for the people who moved out, huh?
Blaming people who can’t afford it anymore?
@@SevenRiderAirForce why would you blame people that put in investment and work to improve the neighborhood then had to move because they couldn’t afford it anymore?
@@davidhyman1855 You said it was gentrified by LGBTQ people...who then themselves got gentrified out. You don't have a problem with gentrifiers, you have a problem with "breeders." Not really a sympathetic argument there.
Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles. Safe protected bike lanes and trails are needed so adults and children can ride safely. Speak up for bicycles in your community. Bicycles make life and cities better. Ask your local transportation planner and elected officials to support more protected bike lanes and trails. Children should be riding a bicycle to school and not be driven in a minivan.
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All housing is good housing, idk why you had such a negative tone about "luxury apartments". Are developers supposed to purposefully make the apartments bad?
It was more of a sarcastic tone mocking the people who complain about it. I try my best to be impartial to the subject.
From what some have said here they make the developments bad and charge outrageous prices for them!
Boston is trash, I lived there for 34 years, left for the DMV.... get paid MORE and the cost of living is lower.
Low income housing doesn't stop people from being priced out of their neighborhood that enables people not to workand caters to only a specific group of people
I think that’s a tough generalization but certainly there’s an element of truth.
@cities4ppl if you make 30000 a year as a single person you don't qualify for low income housing in Massachusetts. So your 30000 a year ass is still subject to 1500 a month minimum average on rent
@@gij123 Ouch!
Bicycles make life and cities better.
Ask your local transportation planner and elected officials to support more safe, protected bike lanes and trails.
Every child should be able to ride a bicycle to school safely.
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We need to make room for the Lived Black Experience. These new projects must be reserved for those who built our country, I.e. the Blacks. No other group has played such an important role in history as the Blacks.