Jeff Wachter
@jeffwachter.bsky.social
Cities, history, & the history of cities. And baseball. With some politics, transportation, housing, & community. Brookline, BOS, ATL.
www.brooklineforeveryone.com
www.brooklineforeveryone.com
Phenomenal performance.
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds playing CSNY’s “Ohio” with a little “Killing in the Name Of” thrown in.
January 26, 2026 at 12:39 AM
Phenomenal performance.
People want places to congregate & want walkable neighborhoods. We should absolutely make it easy to build cafe's in residential areas. It can add so much to a neighborhood, bring folks together, & boost tax revenue to the community. We need to get way more comfortable mixing uses in our places.
Legalize Cafes Everywhere!
Municipal codes should allow for the operation of cafes in most residential areas to free up space for businesses who actually need larger commercial buildings.
darrellowens.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 7:09 PM
People want places to congregate & want walkable neighborhoods. We should absolutely make it easy to build cafe's in residential areas. It can add so much to a neighborhood, bring folks together, & boost tax revenue to the community. We need to get way more comfortable mixing uses in our places.
Good way to wrap up Martin Luther King Jr Day in 2026.
MLK: I've Been To The Mountaintop!
YouTube video by The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change
youtu.be
January 20, 2026 at 3:45 AM
Good way to wrap up Martin Luther King Jr Day in 2026.
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
As long as it is illegal under zoning to build homes on small, affordable lots, it will practically be illegal to build starter homes in many American neighborhoods. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/10/o...
A 5,000-square-foot solution to the Massachusetts housing crisis - The Boston Globe
A ballot measure to reduce lot-size requirements would open up more housing options in the suburbs, creating opportunities to build smaller, lower-cost homes.
www.bostonglobe.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:12 PM
As long as it is illegal under zoning to build homes on small, affordable lots, it will practically be illegal to build starter homes in many American neighborhoods. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/10/o...
January 13, 2026 at 3:01 AM
Glad this kind of story is getting covered. If you bought a home 15, 20, 30 years ago, it's really hard to wrap your head around housing unaffordability. How many people who bought in 1995 or 2010 could afford the same home today? It's a real problem that we need to throw all sorts of solutions at.
5 years ago, a household needed $126,519 a year to afford the median home in Boston. Today, it has more than doubled to $259,648. People who 5 years ago would have been able to purchase a home — teachers, nurses, and academics — can now hardly even conceive of it.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/26/b...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/26/b...
Forever renters: For many in Greater Boston, the American dream of homeownership ‘no longer exists’ - The Boston Globe
Home prices in Greater Boston have surged far faster than incomes, pushing ownership out of reach for many.
www.bostonglobe.com
January 12, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Glad this kind of story is getting covered. If you bought a home 15, 20, 30 years ago, it's really hard to wrap your head around housing unaffordability. How many people who bought in 1995 or 2010 could afford the same home today? It's a real problem that we need to throw all sorts of solutions at.
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
Great mix of data and anecdotal experience in this piece. This is how you do it --> www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Congestion pricing after one year: How life has changed. (Gift Article)
How life has changed in the New York area, according to data on traffic, transit and the responses of 600 readers.
www.nytimes.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Great mix of data and anecdotal experience in this piece. This is how you do it --> www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
Very positive news on the impact of the Columbus Street bus lanes, despite the @bostonglobe.com excessively negative framing. Glad to see @mbta.com working towards expanding programs like this and adding automated enforcement.
Years ago, Boston put bus lanes in the middle of this busy street. Has it worked? - The Boston Globe
As Boston and other localities prepare to carve out more bus-exclusive street space, what lessons does Columbus offer?
www.bostonglobe.com
January 2, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Very positive news on the impact of the Columbus Street bus lanes, despite the @bostonglobe.com excessively negative framing. Glad to see @mbta.com working towards expanding programs like this and adding automated enforcement.
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
cool project in minneapolis taking an old kmart lot, restoring the street grid, and developing the site into parks and mixed use/mixed income housing lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/RCA...
January 1, 2026 at 9:20 PM
cool project in minneapolis taking an old kmart lot, restoring the street grid, and developing the site into parks and mixed use/mixed income housing lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/RCA...
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
My least popular (and most correct) view is that cars should be automatically limited to the local speed limit. Put the pedal to the floor and you still can't go over 25mph in a residential area.
(15 in Manhattan btw)
(15 in Manhattan btw)
There is no possible justification for limiting e-bikes to 15mph but not cars.
New York Has a New E-Bike Speed Limit—and No Way to Enforce It
August 9, 2025 at 4:47 PM
My least popular (and most correct) view is that cars should be automatically limited to the local speed limit. Put the pedal to the floor and you still can't go over 25mph in a residential area.
(15 in Manhattan btw)
(15 in Manhattan btw)
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
An astonishing percentage of Americans are open to car-free living.
The problem isn't attitudes. The problem is the failure to invest in viable options.
humantransit.org/2025/12/many...
The problem isn't attitudes. The problem is the failure to invest in viable options.
humantransit.org/2025/12/many...
Many Americans Are Open to Car-Free Living — Human Transit
Is Americans a “car culture” or are they “car dependent”? Do they drive because they love driving, or are they in an unhealthy relationship with a substance it would be happy to do without? Obviousl...
humantransit.org
December 11, 2025 at 6:55 PM
An astonishing percentage of Americans are open to car-free living.
The problem isn't attitudes. The problem is the failure to invest in viable options.
humantransit.org/2025/12/many...
The problem isn't attitudes. The problem is the failure to invest in viable options.
humantransit.org/2025/12/many...
Love the gradual transition from an office-centric downtown to a more complete city. Converting underutilized office buildings to more homes & dorms & hotels leads to more people in the neighborhood for retail and amenities. We should shun single-purpose districts for more integrated places.
‘Office-to-everything’ conversions may finally pay off for downtown Boston - The Boston Globe
Different kinds of office conversions were a big topic at the Downtown Boston Alliance's annual meeting this week.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 30, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Love the gradual transition from an office-centric downtown to a more complete city. Converting underutilized office buildings to more homes & dorms & hotels leads to more people in the neighborhood for retail and amenities. We should shun single-purpose districts for more integrated places.
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
I've always enjoyed, and also never been good at, finding new music, beyond going a step or two beyond what I already knew and loved. It's even harder now with a life full of family and work and responsibility. Excited to have found @meandtimory.bsky.social on TikTok to help expand my aural world.
New Bands for Old Heads | Gabbie | Substack
New music recommendations for people who don't keep up with new music. Click to read New Bands for Old Heads, by Gabbie, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
www.newbandsforoldheads.com
December 27, 2025 at 3:08 AM
I've always enjoyed, and also never been good at, finding new music, beyond going a step or two beyond what I already knew and loved. It's even harder now with a life full of family and work and responsibility. Excited to have found @meandtimory.bsky.social on TikTok to help expand my aural world.
I've always enjoyed, and also never been good at, finding new music, beyond going a step or two beyond what I already knew and loved. It's even harder now with a life full of family and work and responsibility. Excited to have found @meandtimory.bsky.social on TikTok to help expand my aural world.
New Bands for Old Heads | Gabbie | Substack
New music recommendations for people who don't keep up with new music. Click to read New Bands for Old Heads, by Gabbie, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
www.newbandsforoldheads.com
December 27, 2025 at 3:08 AM
I've always enjoyed, and also never been good at, finding new music, beyond going a step or two beyond what I already knew and loved. It's even harder now with a life full of family and work and responsibility. Excited to have found @meandtimory.bsky.social on TikTok to help expand my aural world.
Giving religious orgs the ability to more easily build multifamily housing - and therefore build community & house those in need - is a great idea. In Brookline multiple houses of worship are interested in building homes slowed by zoning, making financing harder & projects near transit smaller.
3. A push to build housing in ‘God’s backyard’ http://commonwealthbeacon.org/housing/a-push-to-build-housing-in-gods-backyard/
December 23, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Giving religious orgs the ability to more easily build multifamily housing - and therefore build community & house those in need - is a great idea. In Brookline multiple houses of worship are interested in building homes slowed by zoning, making financing harder & projects near transit smaller.
Great listen that challenges many of the common understandings of idyllic, stable post-war suburbia. Chipping away at the mystique of 20th century American development is vital to finding solutions to housing/land use challenges we face today. @m-r-glass.bsky.social @dygottlieb.bsky.social
Mike Glass on the Surprisingly Precarious Postwar Suburbs
Podcast Episode · Who Makes Cents?: A History of Capitalism Podcast · 12/09/2025 · 43m
podcasts.apple.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Great listen that challenges many of the common understandings of idyllic, stable post-war suburbia. Chipping away at the mystique of 20th century American development is vital to finding solutions to housing/land use challenges we face today. @m-r-glass.bsky.social @dygottlieb.bsky.social
Vacancy rate is a hugely important stat to explain why rents are so high. @bosindicators.bsky.social's Housing Report Card shows the Boston area vacancy rate at just 3%, well below the "stable vacancy rate" of ~5.6%. We need to push every policy we can to drive home production to address this.
Area residents also face a shortage of rental units. While apartment vacancy rates have been falling nationally, the decline is particularly severe in Greater Boston, where, in 2024, the vacancy rate was just under 3 percent.
December 16, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Vacancy rate is a hugely important stat to explain why rents are so high. @bosindicators.bsky.social's Housing Report Card shows the Boston area vacancy rate at just 3%, well below the "stable vacancy rate" of ~5.6%. We need to push every policy we can to drive home production to address this.
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
One of the things about being Jewish is that the calendar ritually mandates that you be sad some days and joyful other days regardless of what is happening in the world, and I think about that every time Jews get slaughtered on a ritually joyful day.
December 14, 2025 at 2:33 PM
One of the things about being Jewish is that the calendar ritually mandates that you be sad some days and joyful other days regardless of what is happening in the world, and I think about that every time Jews get slaughtered on a ritually joyful day.
Great to see the Healey administration continue to try to identify ways to get more ADUs built. Hopefully they keep tweaking the regulations and finding ways to help interested property owners get these homes built.
When Massachusetts broadly legalized ADUs statewide last year, Maura Healey's office estimated the new rules would lead to 8,000 to 10,000 new units over five years.
One year in, the state is announcing new measures to pick up the pace: www.wbur.org/news/2025/12... @wbur.org
One year in, the state is announcing new measures to pick up the pace: www.wbur.org/news/2025/12... @wbur.org
Massachusetts legalized ADUs statewide in 2024. Now, the state wants to pick up the pace
Gov. Maura Healey's office announced three new initiatives Wednesday to promote the construction of accessory dwelling units, including a special loan program and a design contest.
www.wbur.org
December 11, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Great to see the Healey administration continue to try to identify ways to get more ADUs built. Hopefully they keep tweaking the regulations and finding ways to help interested property owners get these homes built.
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
One of the biggest drivers of high housing costs is that a small, highly motivated group of incumbent homeowners block new housing in their neighborhoods and almost no one is organized to push back.
Young people bear the brunt of that imbalance.
Be a housing fan.
Young people bear the brunt of that imbalance.
Be a housing fan.
December 6, 2025 at 4:22 PM
One of the biggest drivers of high housing costs is that a small, highly motivated group of incumbent homeowners block new housing in their neighborhoods and almost no one is organized to push back.
Young people bear the brunt of that imbalance.
Be a housing fan.
Young people bear the brunt of that imbalance.
Be a housing fan.
ADUs are slowly making an impact in MA, maybe not as big or fast as hoped, but it's been less than 2 years. The state also needs to make it easier to add these homes - limit local regulatory impediments & help create financing tools. ADUs have thrived in some places, MA can learn their lessons.
‘Too many obstacles’: Despite statewide legalization, backyard homes haven’t boomed in Mass. - The Boston Globe
Despite a new law that aims to ease construction of accessory dwelling units in Massachusetts, relatively few are being built so far.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:24 PM
ADUs are slowly making an impact in MA, maybe not as big or fast as hoped, but it's been less than 2 years. The state also needs to make it easier to add these homes - limit local regulatory impediments & help create financing tools. ADUs have thrived in some places, MA can learn their lessons.
Exciting to see Baltimore considering legalizing 4 family homes citywide. Here's a thoughtful discussion in favor of the proposal from someone who has the experience to make the case.
Legalizing widespread, but modest, density is a good path forward for many places that can make a big difference.
Legalizing widespread, but modest, density is a good path forward for many places that can make a big difference.
Baltimore’s former zoning board director explains why she lost faith in zoning | Baltimore Brew
The mayor’s “Housing Options and Opportunity” legislation – including Bill 25-0066 – will go a long way toward fixing an unfair system, she says. [OP-ED]
www.baltimorebrew.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Exciting to see Baltimore considering legalizing 4 family homes citywide. Here's a thoughtful discussion in favor of the proposal from someone who has the experience to make the case.
Legalizing widespread, but modest, density is a good path forward for many places that can make a big difference.
Legalizing widespread, but modest, density is a good path forward for many places that can make a big difference.
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
Boston's zoning code is broken.
You shouldn't need a slew of variances to build a triple-decker, particularly in a neighborhood where the street already has multiple triple-deckers with identical dimensions.
99% of Boston's residential lots do not comply with current zoning.
You shouldn't need a slew of variances to build a triple-decker, particularly in a neighborhood where the street already has multiple triple-deckers with identical dimensions.
99% of Boston's residential lots do not comply with current zoning.
November 26, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Boston's zoning code is broken.
You shouldn't need a slew of variances to build a triple-decker, particularly in a neighborhood where the street already has multiple triple-deckers with identical dimensions.
99% of Boston's residential lots do not comply with current zoning.
You shouldn't need a slew of variances to build a triple-decker, particularly in a neighborhood where the street already has multiple triple-deckers with identical dimensions.
99% of Boston's residential lots do not comply with current zoning.
Reposted by Jeff Wachter
Glad to hear a state legislator talking about big ideas that can make a big impact. Don't like traffic? Frustrated that the T doesn't have the funding necessary for more reliable service? Interested in safer local streets in Boston & beyond? Congestion pricing can be part of the answer.
Mass. lawmaker says ‘congestion pricing’ should be considered to address the T’s fiscal woes - The Boston Globe
State senator Brendan Crighton, who co-chairs the Legislature’s transportation committee, spoke at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Glad to hear a state legislator talking about big ideas that can make a big impact. Don't like traffic? Frustrated that the T doesn't have the funding necessary for more reliable service? Interested in safer local streets in Boston & beyond? Congestion pricing can be part of the answer.