When we joined the Steering Committee of Housing Lynn over a year ago, we knew affordable housing was one of the major issues facing the city.
That’s why Mayor Thomas M. McGee and the Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development (LHAND) commissioned the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to lead this planning process, known as Housing Lynn.
We never could have imagined the pressure that the pandemic would add to people experiencing homelessness or struggling to maintain a precarious housing situation, so the culmination of this planning process is timely and highly relevant.
As the year unfolded and calls to combat racism grew louder and louder, many of us thought about how the struggle to afford housing disproportionately touches people of color, as well as the risk of displacement that looms over many in the city.
All this has added urgency to the work to address this issue. Housing Lynn has produced a Housing Production Plan (the “Plan”) that will give the City a blueprint for doing just that.
While COVID and the Black Lives Matters movement has added attention and urgency, the issue of housing affordability is not new. You are likely well-versed in the struggle of so many Lynners to afford to live here, and for young adults who grew up here to be able to make their homes and raise families here.
While market trends can feel overwhelming, we know that Lynn’s leaders are committed to addressing this issue. We also understand there are anticipated tradeoffs and concerns about how best to do so, and we are eager to engage with you and other elected and appointed officials to craft initiatives and policies using the data and strategies contained in the Plan.
Impact on schools
A major concern is the impact of housing on school capacity. Housing Lynn made a commendable effort to analyze this issue. There is no disputing that Lynn faces a yawning gap between the need for and existence of adequate school facilities.
Together, housing affordability and inadequate school facilities are two of the city’s most pressing issues. Ignoring either issue — housing affordability or school facilities — will not help in addressing the other.
The City needs to build new schools – whether or not we produce affordable housing. The development of new housing units will continue — probably accelerate. The question is, how many units will remain affordable for cost-burdened Lynners?
While we seek to address housing affordability, we support all that the City and the Lynn Public Schools are doing to try to build new schools. We also know the two issues interrelate. Adding affordable housing with a preference for Lynn residents will help the schools in that it’s one way to relieve pressure from overcrowded housing, which has exacerbated Lynn’s struggle with COVID and presents an ongoing health challenge. In addition, housing instability itself is an educational concern. Frequent moves, costly evictions, and forced displacement all negatively impact students’ education. For this reason, as a community, we must address both the need for affordable housing and the need for additional school facilities.
We won’t be able to solve the need for schools by ignoring the need for safe and affordable housing — we must tackle both problems with creativity and energy, exploring all possible solutions for the health of our young people and our city as a whole.
Impact on growth
We also understand that the city is hard-pressed for revenue and interested in attracting development, and we support those efforts. The Plan will ultimately be good for growth in the city.
First, the Plan relies on continued private investment to create deed-restricted affordable housing. Therefore, the Plan’s authors had to make difficult tradeoffs with help from housing finance experts to make sure that projects will still make economic sense under the proposed recommendations.
Second, the Plan sets up housing development so that it benefits everyone – developers, current residents, taxpayers. This is the best way to set a smooth course for growth while creating opportunities to allow Lynn residents to remain in their community.
Impact on future decisions
We also recognize that city leaders may have concerns about committing to certain courses of action when circumstances may change. The Plan recommends different strategies the City can use to address the crisis of affordable housing. It does not itself implement the actual recommendations. Any recommended changes will be vetted through the regular legislative and governmental processes following public input. We respect the value that democratic deliberation will add to the final policies that are adopted.
Not everyone will agree with every recommendation in this report. That’s not necessarily the point. Each of the recommendations will require action by others to implement. Our view of the goal is to establish a common understanding of the extent to which housing affordability is an issue and a common toolkit to draw from as we set off in the same direction to address it.
We’d like to thank all those involved in preparing the Plan. Staff from the Mayor’s Office, LHAND, and MAPC have done tremendous work. Hundreds have contributed thoughtful input in a robust public engagement process. Renters and homeowners, passionate housing advocates and large-scale landlords, and people from all over the City of Lynn were represented. The Housing Lynn team has gone to great lengths to incorporate this feedback.
Now, both the Lynn City Council and Lynn Planning Board are respectfully asked to formally adopt the Plan. Doing so will allow the Plan to be submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for approval as a Housing Production Plan under MGL Chapter 40B.
Beyond that, local adoption will indicate an understanding of Lynn’s housing challenges and a willingness to consider the Plan’s recommendations over the next five years. City leadership, staff, and residents will all need to work together to advance the Plan’s vision and implement new policies and other actions to meet housing needs in Lynn.
We strongly recommend the Plan’s adoption by the Lynn City Council and the Lynn Planning Board. We are more than happy to make ourselves available to anyone interested in discussing.
The members of the Housing Lynn Steering Committee are:
Pete Capano, State Representative
Leonardo Casillas, La Vida Scholars Board of Directors
Magnolia Contreras, EDIC Board Member
Jeff Crosby, New Lynn Coalition
Laura Gallant, Northeast Justice Center
Iveth Martinez, Pathways Inc.
Nicole Mcclain, North Shore Juneteenth Association
Jared Nicholson, Lynn School Committee
Lilian Romero, LEO Inc.
