Housing Report Gives Waltham Solid Marks In Greater Boston

WALTHAM, MA — Waltham received strong marks in diversity of housing and adopting The Boston Foundation's "best practices" when it comes to developing housing options to keep up with demand in Greater Boston. The Boston Foundation's Greater Boston Housing Report Card, released on Wednesday, graded 147 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts based on production of housing, racial composition, diversity of housing based on single-family homes, multifamily homes and rental properties, and affordability.

The report concluded that most cities and towns in Greater Boston are not building enough new housing to keep up with population growth and that many are not doing enough to eliminate racial segregation in the region. But Waltham ranked above the average when it came to diversity of housing with 56 percent of its housing multifamily and 50 percent rental to rank 16th out of 147 communities in the report's housing diversity index.

Waltham Housing Supervisor Bob Waters said the city has tried to be at the forefront of area communities in taking steps to provide housing options for its workforce. On May 28, the Waltham City Council voted to increase inclusionary zoning with a measure that requires all new housing developments to have at least 15 percent affordable units — up from 10 percent.

"This is something we have been advocating," Waters said. "Because of the market, with the rents and the property values being so high right now, a lot of people have been priced out of the community. If our workforce can’t afford housing in the city, that’s very important to us."

The additional five percent of affordable housing approved will be available at 50 percent of the area median income, compared to 80 percent of AMI for the first 10 percent. Waters said that will bring the rent of a one-bedroom unit for the lower rate from $1,780 per month to $1,185.

"That’s real money to people at that income level," Waters said. "It really helps a demographic in the city that is in need."

While Watch Community Development Corporation — the Waltham Alliance for Teaching, Community Organizing and Housing — celebrated the inclusionary zoning increase on its website, Watch CDC executive director Daria Gere said more can be done to increase the inventory of affordable housing units.

"We are seeing increases in rents, especially in the last few years, that are pushing low-wage workers out of town," she said. "If we want to maintain and economically diverse community, we have to be more proactive."

The Greater Boston Housing Report Card ranked Waltham near the average in affordability at 54 percent based on a weighted composite of home prices, rents, and the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development subsidized housing inventory.

Gere advocates the city working harder to transform abandoned properties — such as buildings on the Fernald School site, the former Fitch School and Waltham State Armory — into 100 percent affordable units.

"Our housing plan can’t be based entirely on (commercial) development," Gere said. "For that, we need leadership and support for these initiatives."

Gere said she is encouraged that there has been more of "an appetite" for pursuing those types of projects within the City Council in recent years. In the 10-4 vote approving the inclusionary zoning increase in May, some of those opposed argued that the new requirement should be higher than the 15 percent proposal.

Waltham was one of 25 also ranked near the average at 67 percent in adopting six "best practices" of promoting multifamily housing, accessory dwelling units, mixed-use developments, inclusionary zoning, affordable housing trusts and adopting the Community Preservation Act — a state guideline which encourages communities to preserve open space and historic sites, create affordable housing and develop outdoor recreational facilities.

"It’s been a great resource for the community," Waters said of the Community Preservation Act. "It has helped us get a lot of great projects funded from historical preservation to Housing Authority projects."

The Greater Boston Housing Report Card determined that cities and towns in the five counties of eastern Massachusetts will need to produce an additional 21,333 housing units per year to keep up with demand in the region through 2025. Permitting levels showed that only 19 of 147 communities were keeping up with their “fair share” of housing production with Waltham lagging behind at producing only 12 percent of the necessary permits to meet the standards.