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Old 11-10-2014, 09:55 AM
 
Location: Massachusetts & Hilton Head, SC
10,020 posts, read 15,665,421 times
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Every city or town is supposed to have a percentage of "affordable" housing. Not the same as Sec. 8.
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Old 11-10-2014, 10:26 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,812,501 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaseyB View Post
Every city or town is supposed to have a percentage of "affordable" housing. Not the same as Sec. 8.
And even if the town doesn't meet the state's 10% affordable rule, they don't get fined or forced to build more affordable housing. If they don't meet the 10% then developers are allowed to bypass certain local zoning rules if they present plans for a housing development that contains 25% affordable units. Even then, they are still subject to intense scrutiny before their plan is passed.

In other cases, the town can keep out affordable housing by buying out the developer. That's what happened in Sudbury 2 weeks ago. A developer had finalized plans to build an apartment complex on one of the last few buildable lots left in town (it was a 10-year battle with the town). We held a special election at the eleventh hour and voted to just buy the land from the developer for $2.9 million. That's why some towns property taxes are so high. Many towns like Sudbury will buy every last parcel of land and put it into conservancy in order to avoid building affordable housing. Especially apartment complexes.
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Old 11-10-2014, 11:18 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,936 posts, read 36,957,550 times
Reputation: 40635
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parsec View Post
In other cases, the town can keep out affordable housing by buying out the developer. That's what happened in Sudbury 2 weeks ago. A developer had finalized plans to build an apartment complex on one of the last few buildable lots left in town (it was a 10-year battle with the town). We held a special election at the eleventh hour and voted to just buy the land from the developer for $2.9 million. That's why some towns property taxes are so high. Many towns like Sudbury will buy every last parcel of land and put it into conservancy in order to avoid building affordable housing. Especially apartment complexes.

I wish Belmont did that with the Rte 2 / Silver Maple forest parcel. Ugh. What a horrible place to build a building.
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Old 11-11-2014, 12:10 PM
 
6,459 posts, read 7,796,492 times
Reputation: 15981
I'm not sure why the OP puts on a race rant when what she's really upset about is that real estate is expensive in most places 'round here and they're having trouble finding a decent home because prices are insane.
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Old 11-12-2014, 12:10 PM
 
6,459 posts, read 7,796,492 times
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When I saw the title of this thread again, I thought it had to do with how the environment you live in influences your running speed.
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Old 11-12-2014, 04:38 PM
 
1,768 posts, read 3,240,337 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by g-fused View Post
when i saw the title of this thread again, i thought it had to do with how the environment you live in influences your running speed.
+1.
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Old 11-13-2014, 03:01 AM
 
5,792 posts, read 5,106,539 times
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I thought it was about a particular location and the races that take place there....
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Old 11-13-2014, 09:24 AM
 
Location: Denver and Boston
2,071 posts, read 2,209,976 times
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The irony of the OP's rant is that white women in their 20s and 30s (of which the OP has almost certainly been and/or still is one) are the most influential demographic in determining housing prices in all major U.S. urban areas. Said women will pay thousands per month to live in shoe boxes with no parking, just to be within walking distance of Starbucks (or whatnot). While men of all ages and races will commute or live in boarderline housing to achieve a lower rent/mortgage. The only circumstances whereby men pay top dollar for rent/mortgage is when they want to be in close proximity to the aforementioned white women in their 20s and 30s (or gay men as appropriate).
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Old 11-13-2014, 09:33 AM
 
3,268 posts, read 3,322,594 times
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I guess I am not most white women...but yes I am white. I am frugal, I'm not the type of gal that needs to keep up with the Jones'. However there arent many options. Like I said, we HAVE to live in the city of boston for 6 years and are not finding many great options at all. Even a 'working class neighborhood' as so many put it these days is expensive. Basically we cannot find anything under 360k...
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Old 11-13-2014, 09:43 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,812,501 times
Reputation: 2962
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whatsnext75 View Post
I guess I am not most white women...but yes I am white. I am frugal, I'm not the type of gal that needs to keep up with the Jones'. However there arent many options. Like I said, we HAVE to live in the city of boston for 6 years and are not finding many great options at all. Even a 'working class neighborhood' as so many put it these days is expensive. Basically we cannot find anything under 360k...
Why do you need to buy in the city of Boston? The homeownership rate in the city is only about 33%. With a budget of $360k your rant sounds a little ridiculous. That's like a typical white-collar family in MA complaining they can't afford to live in Wellesley on a $650k budget. The smart thing to do would be to rent.
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