CITY OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Office of the Mayor
Thomas M. Menino
For Immediate Release For More Information Contact:
April 30, 2007 Press Office, 617 635-4461
At Housing Summit, Mayor Menino Announces City to Surpass Benchmarks
Nearly 500 Attend Conference to Assess Housing Needs, Strategies
On Friday, April 27, Mayor Thomas M. Menino hosted the “Housing Boston 2012: Strategies for High-Cost Cities” conference at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center with nearly 500 experts and practitioners from across the nation to assess the city’s future housing challenges, explore innovative solutions, and begin mapping out a new plan of action. The conference included national housing experts such as former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros; U.S. Congressman Barney Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee; and Freddie Mac President and CEO Richard Syron. In addition, the conference drew leading housing experts from other major cities, the region, and the city.
Mayor Menino also announced that the City of Boston has exceeded its target of 10,000 new units of housing in the “Leading the Way II” housing campaign.
In 2000, Mayor Menino launched the city’s first housing strategy, called “Leading the Way.” Following successful completion of the three-year plan, the city embarked on an even more ambitious “Leading the Way II.” Combined, these housing initiatives have led to the permitting of more than 18,000 units of new housing in the City of Boston, the equivalent of adding a new neighborhood the size of Jamaica Plain or West Roxbury. More than 4,800 of these units are affordable. In addition, more than 5,000 affordable rental units have been saved from going market-rate, and more than 1,600 public housing units have been redeveloped or renovated, including almost 800 long-vacant units.
“Today we celebrate thousands of new units of housing that we have built together over the past several years through our Leading the Way I and II initiatives,” said Mayor Menino. “Everyone knows that we’ve made great strides in addressing Boston’s housing needs, but we have more work to do – housing is still too expensive for our working families. This is an opportunity for us to learn from experts and leaders in the housing field and look for innovative solutions.”
“Leading the Way has produced results, and as we come to its conclusion, we need to take a hard look forward – how can we adapt our housing strategy to meet the future needs of the city,” said Charlotte Golar Richie, director of the Department of Neighborhood Development and Chief of Housing for the city. “Housing Boston 2012 brings together our partners and the leading thinkers on the crises facing high-cost cities to begin the discussion about where Boston should go next.”
Housing Boston 2012 included neighborhood housing tours on Thursday, April 26, followed by an all-day forum at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston on April 27.
Sponsors for Housing Boston 2012 include the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development, Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston Housing Authority, Bank of America, KeySpan, Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), Schneider Associates, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. (MHIC), NEWIRE, and the Warren Group as media sponsor.
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