The dearth of affordable housing in Somerville is a fast-growing problem in a community that hosts an affluent college campus on one hand and a significant working class population on the other. Two competing proposals to make housing more affordable by increasing the fee levied on commercial development are good starts, but the community should do much more to aggressively protect the right of residents to affordable shelter.
The Somerville Affordable Housing Organizing Committee (AHOC) has proposed raising the linkage fee, which is currently assessed on all commercial developments over 30,000 feet, from $2.60 per square foot to $3.91. The money raised goes to a dedicated fund that subsidizes affordable housing in the city. A competing proposal by Somerville Mayor Joe Curatone proposed raising the fee to $3.50 per square foot and lowering the assessment threshold to 20,000 feet. The Mayor's proposal would also add a $0.50 per square foot fee to support open space in the city.
Unfortunately both proposals fall far short of a fee level that would be adequate in order to support affordable housing in Somerville. The concern is that raising the linkage fee too much would deter development in the city. This problem, however, does not seem to be as salient as it once was, as Somerville is fast becoming a magnet for more affluent residents and the commercial development that they demand. As this happens the local government should ensure that affordable housing isn't denied because of reluctance to raise fees to proper levels. Raising fees while lowering assessment thresholds should be considered to a much greater extent than it has been up to this point.
Another contributing factor to skyrocketing housing costs in the area is the presence of a large number of Tufts students in the rental market every year. Since the students are willing to pay very high rates for what is often substandard housing, many working-class families are priced out of the market, especially in the area surrounding the Medford-Somerville campus.
The problem here, however, is that Somerville's reluctance to let Tufts add residential space on campus ends up contributing to an affordable housing problem for permanent residents. A solution that would be far more efficient for the city would be to encourage the University to build housing on campus to accommodate the entirety of the undergraduate population. This would take a considerable amount of pressure off rents and make housing for community residents easier to find.
To do this the city of Somerville would have to stand up to substantial vested interests of local landlords, many of whom own multiple houses in the area. In allowing Tufts to develop, however, Somerville would also be serving its own interests by simultaneously lowering rents as well as encouraging landlords to care for their properties.
Certainly this University is a contributor to housing woes in the area, but it doesn't have to be that way. The city of Somerville needs to be braver with commercial fees and more permissive with development on campus. Only then will we be able to find solutions everyone can afford.
