Lynn has an affordable housing crisis. Sixty percent of renters in Lynn are cost- burdened or extremely cost-burdened — up from 48 percent cited by Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development Executive Director Charles J. Gaeta in a 2021 commentary published in The Item.
What are the best approaches to solving the housing crisis? When it comes to finding an answer, affordability advocates and market-rate-housing proponents appear to be at the opposite ends of the spectrum.
Affordable-housing-advocacy organizations are calling on Mayor Jared Nicholson and the City Council to pour $18 million of the remaining $20 million in round two of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into the trust fund created for affordable housing.
Market-rate development advocates are sounding the alarm over the high land acquisition and labor costs developers face on making a return on their investments. Bottom line: Without tax breaks, including affordable housing in projects is a deal breaker.
The market-raters also claim pre-development deed restrictions that affordability advocates want mandated will drive developers out of Lynn at a time when construction is finally accelerating in the city.
They warn that the developer exodus will deprive Lynn of new residents with disposable incomes vital to growing the city’s economy.
Affordable advocates disagree and insist that mandating affordable housing units in new developments for households earning between 30 and 50 percent Area Median Income will, to quote Lynn United for Change’s 2022 Community Housing Plan, “ . . . move quickly to acquire and preserve affordability of existing housing that is in danger of being converted to luxury apartments . . .”
How does a compromise get struck that keeps developers spending money in Lynn while addressing the affordable housing crisis?
“Housing Lynn: A Plan for Inclusive Growth,” a comprehensive road map guiding Lynn to new development while creating affordable housing, could be the answer.
Strong support for the plan, especially from housing advocacy groups, amassed during the last year makes “Housing Lynn” the city’s best chance for striking a compromise that keeps investment dollars rolling into the city while addressing the affordability crisis.
But developers can’t wait for plans to become reality when they are competing for project opportunities. Too many renters across the city can’t pay for their housing and need help from the $18 million in ARPA assistance affordability advocates want added to the trust fund.
Fixing broad-sweeping problems like housing affordability take time. Change moves at a slow pace and big bold moves aimed at quickening the pace can run into roadblocks or bumps on the road.
But Lynn, as Gaeta eloquently noted in his 2021 commentary, is “at a critical juncture” and persistent combined with patience is the way forward to a solution.
