BOSTON—Massachusetts lawmakers have officially left the station on housing policy, but with the MBTA Communities Act, it looks like they’re heading straight for a derailment.
The new law forces 177 cities and towns near MBTA stops to zone for multi-family housing, under the grand assumption that packing people near public transit will solve the state’s housing crisis. There’s just one problem: the MBTA itself is barely on track. Between delayed trains, crumbling infrastructure, and budget shortfalls, residents already have a hard time relying on the system. So naturally, Beacon Hill’s solution is to add more people to the mix.
This plan is less of a bullet train and more of a rusted-out trolley car. Forcing communities to upzone without addressing the MBTA’s chronic failures or local infrastructure limits is like trying to board a train that’s already left the platform completely unrealistic. Towns are being told to accept high-density housing or risk losing funding, which is less “public policy” and more of a bureaucratic shakedown.
And let’s not forget what happens when you overcrowd an already struggling system. More housing without corresponding improvements to roads, schools, and emergency services means communities are being railroaded into chaos. Along with higher taxes and overworked public works. Eventually towns will run out of coal to keep their trains running. The MBTA can barely handle its current ridership what makes lawmakers think it’s ready to support even more?
At the end of the day, this policy is just another example of Beacon Hill jumping the tracks. Instead of working with communities to create sustainable housing solutions, the state is shoving this plan down their throats, hoping nobody pulls the emergency brake.
Massachusetts needs real solutions to the housing crisis, not another political trainwreck. But as usual, the people in charge seem to be asleep at the switch.
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