IDuke photo
Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
I hope that Massachusetts voters approve the proposal in Question 7 on the Nov. 3 ballot that would let single-family homes be built on lots that are as small as 5,000 square feet –a little less than an eighth of an acre – provided that there’s adequate water and sewer access. The proposed law would set aside localities’ zoning that sets much larger lot sizes, in what’s sometimes called “snob zoning.’’ That obviously curtails the creation of much needed new housing, raising the cost of current housing – the old supply-and-demand problem.
But even if the measure is approved, some affluent localities will fight hard to undermine it. But it would be a modest boon for the Bay State’s economy, which has been hurt by the lack of “affordable’’ housing for workers and their families. Very expensive Greater Boston would be most helped; and northern Rhode Island, which is economically integrated with much of it, would also benefit.