I would like to thank our various town boards and Lexington Town Meeting members for your leadership last year in passing zoning articles needed to address the housing crisis in Massachusetts – we should all be proud!  And I am now very pleased to see that Lexington can continue its leadership by allowing the development of new affordable housing in our town by passing Article 33.  

We have had an enormous housing production shortfall in Massachusetts over the last 30 years, with only about half the housing produced compared to the previous 30 years. Our housing crisis creates incredible challenges for families, residents on fixed incomes, local workers, and local businesses. Increasing housing production and affordable housing needs to be the cornerstone of any plan for creating local jobs and economic vitality for our communities. Building affordable homes closer to workplaces means that the people who work here can afford to live here, and money and time previously spent on long commutes can be better channeled into contributions to local communities and businesses.

I can’t emphasize enough how critical it is that all communities get into the housing production business. One of the best ways communities like Lexington can do this is by building 100% affordable housing on currently available town owned land. It is a rare opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

The type of process proposed by the Select Board has successfully created attractive affordable housing in many communities throughout the Commonwealth, housing that reflects and is compatible with the existing architecture and style of the community. I can say this from my experience as Secretary of Housing and Economic Development – we supported many such projects with state and federal resources, and I personally saw over 50 developments in 25 cities and towns through two affordable housing tours across Massachusetts.  This is great work and, again, we will be proud.

As a 20-year Lexington resident and Precinct 6 neighbor, I support passage of Article 33 to produce affordable housing and ask that Town Meeting members and the Town of Lexington continue their leadership in addressing the housing crisis by passing Article 33.

Mike Kennealy

Lexington Resident and former Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development

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  1. Pingback: Town Meeting approves plan to seek affordable housing developer for unused property owned by the Town - The Lexington Observer
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