Forum recap: Our housing initiative calls for 44,000 units of new housing in order for our economy to grow 1%. One of the most common barriers for more housing in the suburbs is water/wastewater issues. We were joined by experts from Smart Growth America, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and Town of Scituate for a discussion on challenges in suburban build-out due to current limits on infrastructure capacity. During the session, panelist highlighted:
Check out the video recording and speaker presentations below.
This work would not be possible without our Funders – thank you to Rockland Trust Bank, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, Cape Cod Lumber, Fireking Baking Company & Sullivan Tire for your continued support of our Housing Initiative. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you further about our 2030 work and ways to get involved and engaged. Please contact Courtney Bjorgaard at cbjorgaard@southshorechamber.org to learn more.
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Thank you to our Senators and Representatives who approved the Housing Choice legislation as part of the larger $625 million economic development bill. The South Shore Chamber of Commerce was an early supporter of this proposal to promote more housing. By collaborating, advocating, and supporting housing initiatives on state and municipal levels, we see housing production as an economic development strategy that increases our region’s housing choices and improves our region's economic competitiveness. The legislation encourages cities & towns to adopt zoning best practices related to housing development by a changing the threshold from a super-majority (66%) to a simple majority vote (51%) on 9 types of zoning reform. It does not mandate towns to make zoning changes, but gives them the tools to introduce new housing types and support local economic activity and growth. Our South Shore 2030 vision is to create an environment for current and future businesses and our resident workforce to thrive. Housing is a major component in creating this environment and our Housing Initiative encourages more housing options that attract the next generation of workers and keep our population of retirees here in our region. This housing choice legislation helps to advance our goals of adding an additional 44,000 housing units to the region by 2030, a critical initiative in our larger South Shore 2030 economic development agenda. “The state’s housing crunch is not just a Boston problem, but also a suburban problem. The legislation will help communities allow the type of housing in the right area that helps promote community stability and economic growth. We reached out to our legislative delegation this week to reiterate the importance of this piece of the bill for our housing initiative and encouraged by their action,” said Peter Forman, President & CEO of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce. News coverage from Patriot Ledger: https://www.patriotledger.com/story/news/2021/01/06/legislature-greenlights-625-million-economic-development-spending/6562705002/ Housing Choice Initiative Announcement (December 2017) including comments from Chamber President & CEO, Peter Forman. This session offered attendees an opportunity to explore current and future thinking about housing and transit-oriented developments across the region. This was the second in a 3-part series focused on better informing our business community and regional leaders about opportunities and challenges around housing production across our region. We hope this series inspires business leaders to get involved in our economic development work and be a part of our South Shore 2030 plan. The series is brought to you by the South Shore Chamber’s Housing Committee, a working committee of committed professionals from various backgrounds committed to housing as an economic development strategy for the region. Our Housing Initiative work is made possible through generous funding from Rockland Trust Bank, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, Cape Cod Lumber, Fireking Baking Company & Sullivan Tire. Forum Recap: Callie Clark, Director of Policy at the Center for Housing Data at Mass Housing Partnership (MHP) and Dr. Tracy Corley, TOD Fellow at MassInc provided expertise and insight into current transit-oriented development thinking, placemaking strategies and offered an in depth analysis of what development looks like at a variety the South Shore's transit stops. As we work towards a goal of 44,000 new homes added to the South Shore by 2030, we continue to remain optimistic about the role that TODs will play in getting us to this number, offering more diverse housing options and focusing on connecting people and places.
This work would not be possible without our Funders – thank you to Rockland Trust Bank, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, Cape Cod Lumber, Fireking Baking Company & Sullivan Tire for your continued support of our Housing Initiative. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you further about our 2030 work and ways to get involved and engaged. Please contact Courtney Bjorgaard at cbjorgaard@southshorechamber.org to learn more.
This session offered attendees an opportunity to explore the complexities around development and the local planning process across Massachusetts. This was the first in a 3-part series focused on better informing our business community and regional leaders about opportunities and challenges around housing production across our region. We hope this series inspires business leaders to get involved in our economic development work and be a part of our South Shore 2030 plan. The series is brought to you by the South Shore Chamber’s Housing Committee, a working committee of committed professionals from various backgrounds committed to housing as an economic development strategy for the region. Our Housing Initiative work is made possible through generous funding from Rockland Trust Bank, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, Cape Cod Lumber, Fireking Baking Company & Sullivan Tire.
Event Photos(Photos courtesy of Elisif Photography)
![]() Mr. Mark Melnick of The Donahue Institute spoke at the South Shore Chamber's Economic Outlook breakfast co-sponsored with Envision Bank. We are pleased to share his presentation which included some nice comparisons on how the South Shore stacks up with the rest of the state on key economic factors. It validated some of our work on South Shore 2030 to make the region economically stronger. We were particularly impressed with three slides:
Local train stations could handle 250,000 new homes, and South Shore stations are underdeveloped, a new study shows. |
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