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: 

• Water & Wastewater capacity’s importance for economic development (in our region and others)
• Importance of planning & resource allocation when availability is scarce (focus on concentration of development – more mixed use properties that answer residential and commercial/retail needs/wants)
• Opportunities for regional or multi-municipal collaboration & coordination. 

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. ​

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. ​

(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:

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1. Slide 9  shows we are 1/3  below (less competitive) the state’s concentrations of jobs in the high talent/high salaried Professional and Technical service industry mix but more concentrated than the state’s overall share in the financial services (by almost 70%) and retail  (by 30%) sectors. That illustrates one of the underlying challenge facing the South Shore.  Some of our largest job sectors are in contracting industries that are shedding jobs while at the same time we have a smaller share of some key sectors that are growing and have higher paying jobs. Our challenge becomes how do we expand and attract the growth sectors.  We believe we do it by growing the talent and workforce available on the South Shore.
2. Slide 22 compares the percentage of family income going to housing. That has declined for homeowners since the recession but has stayed high for apartment owners.  The percentage of course depends on two factors:  household incomes and the cost of the housing. Overall we believe this supports our housing agenda. It suggests we are not building enough of the housing product (multi-family such as apartments) that young professionals are looking for.  That keeps apartment rents too high for many younger people. That in turn limits our ability to grow the workforce.   
3. Finally, slide  27 nicely captures our transportation and economic challenge.  (This compares the middle section of the South Shore). We have 1/3 more residents commuting out of the area for jobs than workers coming in from other regions.  This reinforces information from our Original 2030 study that the entire South Shore has more people leaving the area for jobs than coming in for jobs.   And most of our traffic heads North to or through Boston.  While we continue to work on the Boston commute for our residents the better solution to the transportation problem is creating more jobs in the region so residents have better employment choices than driving to Boston.  

​BRAINTREE, MA — Major train and bus stations in greater Boston could handle up to 253,000 new units of housing, and many stations — especially among transit stops on the South Shore — are woefully under-developed, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership.

The average housing density across all transit stations in the area — a group that includes all subway stops and all MBTA stations — is about 6.5 units per-acre, according to the study. The MBTA stations in Braintree, Weymouth, Quincy, Holbrook and Hingham all fall below that mark. An ideal housing density could be as high as 12 to 26 units per acre — a number only seen in dense areas like Roxbury and the South End, the study said.

The only station in those communities close to the MBTA station average is Wollaston Station in Quincy which averages 6.4 units per-acre. The average housing densities for other area stations are:

• North Quincy - 5.5 units per-acre
• Quincy Center - 4.6 units per-acre
• Weymouth Landing/East Braintree - 4.3 units per-acre
• Quincy Adams - 3.3 units per-acre
• South Weymouth - 2.9 units per-acre
• Braintree - 2.6 units per-acre
• East Weymouth - 2.6 units per-acre
• Holbrook/Randolph - 1.5 units per-acre
• West Hingham - 1.2 units per-acre

The study highlights that low-density areas are "squandered opportunities" to build housing, which is in short supply in the Boston area. The numbers are just estimates, and the authors acknowledge barriers to housing in some neighborhoods, like commercial zoning.

There's also questions at the local level about where residents want this housing, how large should these housing units be and if they match the community's existing neighborhood.

In Braintree, a re-zoning ordinance was withdrawn by Mayor Josesph Sullivan following months of controversy from residents, local officials and candidates for town office.

Opponents of the re-zoning ordinance, including hundreds of protesters, argued it would have allowed for too much overcrowded housing, would exacerbate traffic problems and could have fundamentally changed Braintree's "small town character."

This doesn't mean residents are necessarily opposed to new development and re-zoning. Housing near the train station has been suggested during public hearings throughout the year. But many of the residents, town officials and former candidates for public office, including Mayor-elect Charles Kokoros, said the town's master plan needs to be updated before any type of zoning changes get approved.

The study acknowledged this isn't a simple call to action for communities with less housing to build more because increasing housing density doesn't make sense for every community.

"While this math is incredibly simple and ignores some important neighborhood factors, it does show the potential that re-imagining these high-access neighborhoods could have in terms of better supporting transit while simultaneously making a huge dent in our chronic housing supply problem," the study says. "Of course, every station area is different, and there are places where even greater levels of density make sense, and surely some places where market demand may not support large numbers of additional new units."

See a map of stations and read about the methodology on the Massachusetts Housing Partnership website.

IN PERSON with Banker & Tradesman

Winthrop Sargent Founder and Principal, Winthrop Capital Advisors 
Age: 62 
Industry experience: Over 30 years  

Winthrop Sargent has had many jobs throughout his career. He has worked as the owner of a consumer products company, a senior consultant at an accounting firm and a contract CFO on several occasions, not to mention his involvement with municipalities. The wide array of work experience explains why his company, Winthrop Capital Advisors, offers such a multitude of services, including CFO advisory consulting, growth and turnaround assignments, merger and acquisition advisory services, capital underwriting and debt and equity placements.  

Sargent has also been a member of the South Shore Economic Development Corp. and been working on several developments in the South Shore. One of his current projects is the development of a new, upscale residential real estate community in Mattapoisett called Fieldstone Village, which he describes as “Cape Cod but without the traffic.” The project has 30 house lots and is part of a larger development around the Bay Club in Mattapoisett consisting of 625 acres and nearly 200 homes built so far.  
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QUINCY — The sprawling lawns, white picket fences and single-family homes that define many of the Boston area’s wealthy bedroom communities will need to make room for more of the multifamily housing popping up in cities like Quincy and Boston if the region is going to get a handle on what many advocates see as a housing crisis, according to a study released this week.

Greater Boston is now considered the fourth-most expensive city for rental housing in the nation, thanks in large part to a shortage of housing that has made affording a two-bedroom apartment virtually impossible for anyone making less than $87,000 a year. A study released this week by the Boston Foundation found that financial pressures of ballooning rents and skyrocketing home values coupled with a lack of housing diversity in many of the region’s cities and town have created segregated communities, exacerbated income inequality and increased homelessness.

The study singles out the state’s approach to zoning, which leaves most of the power in the hands of local governments. Known as “home rule,” this allows communities to dictate what kinds of housing can be built and where, and allows communities to effectively ban anything but the single-family houses that characterize the area’s wealthier suburbs.

South Shore Habitat for Humanity’s homes at Feinberg Bog Road in Duxbury have been recognized as a contributing project to the region’s economic competitiveness. The homes have been endorsed by the South Shore Economic Development Corporation’s Housing Committee, an arm of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce. The committee recognizes projects and local initiatives that help make the region more competitive in attracting people and businesses, as part of its larger South Shore 2030: Choosing our Future regional economic and community development plan.

The project in Duxbury is located on Feinberg Bog Road and will consist of six townhomes on 3 acres on the Old Camp Wing property. The project meets the Chamber’s criteria for endorsement as it introduces a smaller square footage product at a lower price point, uses an underutilized parcel of land to the Duxbury community. The developer worked closely with the Town of Duxbury, the Affordable Housing Trust, community members and neighbors to address concerns and to introduce a thoughtful, high quality site design. These townhomes are currently under construction.