Walsh’s powerful new fan | Recession warnings| Crane drop | About Contrarian Boston |
A skewed market? Construction of affordable housing in Boston heavily dominated by rentals
Here’s the good news: Developers in Boston built more than 7,100 affordable housing units over the past eight years to meet city requirements.
But here’s the catch: the overwhelming majority of these units – more than 91 percent - are apartments, according to stats from the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development.
Just a small fraction - 879 - were affordable condos sold at below market prices.
There is little if anything to buy in that $160,000 to $300,000 price range in Boston, with the median price of a single-family home in Dorchester now $654,000, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
And as housing advocates in the city push to give low- and moderate-income buyers a fighting chance to build financial stability and join the middle class, this dearth of inventory in reasonably affordable price ranges is a major obstacle.
Marty makes a powerful new friend in D.C.
That would be Vice President Kamala Harris, who is palling and joking around with former Boston-mayor-turned-labor-secretary Marty Walsh and speaking with him on a weekly basis.
So much so that the Washington Post has come out with a story detailing the seemingly unusual bond between the two.
The Post piece drew some typically snarky remarks on Twitter questioning Walsh’s political savvy. After all, if President Biden’s political fortunes are at a low ebb right now, Harris’s have sunk even lower, with the vice president a favorite target of Fox.
But there is clearly a rapport between the two, despite their outward differences, with both children of immigrants. And Walsh has something Harris needs – credibility and a political power base in organized labor – if she is to take another shot at the presidency.
Only a fool would declare the vice president’s political career over now. And if Harris does succeed in pulling herself out the political cellar, that could mean interesting things ahead for “MAH-tee!” – as the vice president has apparently taken to calling Walsh now.
End in sight for Greater Boston’s building boom?
It could very well be if Larry Summers’ diagnosis of what ails the economy – and the harsh medicine that will be needed to treat it – proves correct.
The former Harvard president and treasury secretary under Clinton contends the Fed will have to boost rates much higher than it is forecasting now in order to rein in inflation, potentially triggering a recession.
In fact, Summers now pegs the odds of a downturn within two years at a not very comforting two-thirds, notes the Globe’s Larry Edelman.
Upping the ante, Steve Rattner, a Treasury official under Obama, makes a similar case in the Times and warns a recession could hit in 18 months – just as the 2024 presidential campaign gets underway.
If either scenario proves correct, it would dramatically cool down Boston’s booming construction and development sector, with things like luxury condos and high-rise offices bad bets during a down economy.
Number of construction cranes in Boston on the decline
Ok, it’s probably just a blip. But talking about potential signs of trouble, the number of construction cranes in Boston fell by a quarter during the first three months of 2022.
There are now nine construction cranes in the city, down from 12 last year, the lowest number in about two years as projects that has been delayed or slowed by pandemic disruptions wrap up.
It’s not a major cause for concern – unless the number continues to drop, said Michael O’Reilly associate principal at Rider Levett Bucknall, which puts out a periodic crane count for Boston and other major cities.
We’ll keep an eye on it.
Quick hits:
Finally, some relief for workers caught in the wheels of state government bureaucracy and faced with paying back unemployment benefits – credit the Globe for doggedly bringing this issue to light: “State plans $2.6 billion bond sale to bolster unemployment insurance trust fund”
Not a good look for the Boston-area’s so-called resort casino: “Kimanh Le, of Quincy, indicted, arraigned in connection with loanshark operation running out of Boston’s Encore Casino” Masslive
Twisted history: “GOP lawmaker says homeless people should look to Hitler for inspiration” Washington Post Washington Post
What is Contrarian Boston?
I have fielded emails over the past couple weeks asking what Contrarian Boston is about.
Here’s a link to our mission statement – you can find it in the “about” section.
For a more prosaic, nuts-and-bolts description, read on.
An online newsletter, Contrarian Boston publishes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In Contrarian Boston you’ll find analysis of the day’s news, and original reporting as well.
Our focus is:
· Politics and all levels of governance, good and bad, with an emphasis on state and local, with some national mixed in;
· Economic growth and business, especially real estate, housing and new development projects;
· The media and why it does what it does;
· Education, from school board spats to the doings of multibillion-dollar university endowments;
· And whatever else catches our fancy.