Justin S.
Indie rock, #CambMA and national politics, occasional humor, law. Pro-housing, pro-transit. A Better Cambridge co-chair, “chatty and zealous”
- Reposted by Justin S.Every homeowner commenting against new housing at city council meetings
- @massgovernor.bsky.social @kimdriscollma.bsky.social we can’t wait until the late 2030s!
- Massachusetts building code subcommittee is now debating this. There seems to be broad agreement that it's going to happen, but they seem to want to delay it till the next code, which realistically will mean no buildings till the late 2030s www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/05/o...
- FYI, fellow Cambridge City Council agenda reviewers
- Well, 5:30pm having come and gone, I guess this is all we're getting, at least statutorily: cambridgema.primegov.com/Public/Compi... I do wonder how many people are going to find this and figure out they need to click the 3 dots in order to get to anything meaningful:
- Reposted by Justin S.How do we fix America's housing crisis? Check out my plan at the link below. www.gallego.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
- Reposted by Justin S.We have the #cambma City Council 2026-7 committee assignments! cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/Det... Notably, as to chairs: Ordinance is MM+JSW. Housing is BA+JWS. New member AAZ gets Public Safety and co-chairs Finance, Human Services. New member TF co-chairs Economic Development, Transportation.
- Reposted by Justin S.In-law suites, granny flats, backyard cottages – whatever you call them, you can now build ADUs without special permits. In the first half of 2025, homeowners filed almost 1K applications. We're making it easier and cheaper to build housing that works for your family.
- Thank you to everyone who wrote to the Cambridge City Council and gave public comment in support!
- Reposted by Justin S.New housing stops landlords from raising rents—take it from the CEO of AvalonBay, one of NYC's largest landlords: "We're well-positioned… we face significantly less new supply. Land entitled for multifamily is hard to come by, the amount of time it takes to get those entitlements… sets us up well.”
- Reposted by Justin S.You may not believe that building new housing lowers rents, but your landlord does:
- Reposted by Justin S.🌳 From 2018–2024, Cambridge's tree canopy experienced an overall increase of 5%! 📈 The Department of Public Works' updated tree canopy assessment is now available, thanks to aerial imagery & LiDAR data. 📝 Read the full report: camb.ma/48LMGJh
- Reposted by Justin S.YIMBY avengers assemble! Can someone provide good debunking on the "corporate landlords hoard vacant apartments" urban legend? I met someone tonight who holds fast to this and we agreed to exchange sources, but my main source is "this makes no economic sense"
- This will be a crucial race for addressing our housing shortage and high rents. We need a Senator laser-focused on abundance and affordability!
- Reposted by Justin S.On a favorable rec. for Mass Ave, 6-2-1: ba y mm y PN y SS y JSW y PFT y AW n CZ n EDS (absent) And for Cambridge St., 7-1-1. BA y MM y PN y SS y JSW y PFT y AW y CZ n EDS (absent) This allows the full Council to pass it to a 2nd reading — failure to do so would've have stopped them.
- Reposted by Justin S.What happens when you downzone? Our new open-access research paper in @findingspress.org investigates effects of decades of downzoning in Chicago. Findings: —Downzoned areas added 1/7th of the new units as comparable non-downzoned areas; —Downzoned areas became more white & were more expensive.
- Reposted by Justin S.Massachusetts and communities across the country are facing a housing crisis. Instead of offering support, the federal government is placing unlawful conditions on permanent housing and project renewals that our most vulnerable residents rely on to survive. We're suing.
- Great to have directly across the street from the Porter T stop! Two 15-story buildings could hold a lot more than 100 apartments—and more is necessary given that JAS had 2100 applicants for its 100-apartment building on New Street!
- Reposted by Justin S.[This post could not be retrieved]
- The Cambridge Historical Commission barely, begrudgingly approved a Bluebikes station in West Cambridge last night, yikes.
- I’m so proud of all the work @abciepac.org volunteers put into the Cambridge City Council election—and proud we got right back to work fighting for affordable housing, with four of us participating in last night’s meeting to support this AHO proposal by Just-A-Start! www.justastart.org/240-broadway/
- Reposted by Justin S.The voters sent a clear message. They want a City Council that will move forward, not backward, and that will act boldly on housing, safe streets, and building a city that welcomes everyone.
- Reposted by Justin S.Join us in raising money for the Greater Boston Food Bank throughout November. We're accepting monetary donations at the registers in store through November 23. Learn more about volunteering, donating food or money, and receiving assistance at their website: www.gbfb.org
- Reposted by Justin S.An incomplete list of cities where housing abundance was a major campaign issue & pro-housing candidates held or expanded majorities: - Bozeman, MT - Cambridge, MA - Durham, NC - Kalispell, MT - Littleton, CO - Manchester, NH - Missoula, MT - Salt Lake City, UT - Seattle, WA - Wilmington, NC 💪
- Reposted by Justin S.If you want to help on Election Day, and don’t have anything to do, I could use a few more people to hold signs for @abciepac.org on Election Day in the morning or evening; let me know if you’re interested!
- Today’s the day, Cambridge! GO VOTE!!
- Vote tomorrow for all eight of these candidates. Rank them 1-8 in order of your preference to preserve the progress we've made fighting the housing crisis. Polls are open 7am-8pm. Find your polling place here: www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVote...
- Reposted by Justin S.SPEAKING OF Elections, I'll try to reprise my #cambma Election Night coverage. Like x.com/johnhawkinso... If you're available to visit your polling place shortly after 8pm tomorrow night & help crowdsource photos of the machine result tapes, that would be very helpful. Hit me up if you can assist.
- See below if you’re wondering about the charter and public comment. @johnhawkinson.bsky.social wrote a piece explaining the amendments. www.cambridgeday.com/2025/10/28/a... @burhanazeem.bsky.social wrote an endorsement of the amendments. Vote YES! www.cambridgeday.com/2025/10/27/m...
- Reposted by Justin S.My other top choices will be largely drawn from the "A Better Cambridge" coalition. www.abettercambridge.org
- Reposted by Justin S.Vote tomorrow for all eight of these candidates. Rank them 1-8 in order of your preference to preserve the progress we've made fighting the housing crisis. Polls are open 7am-8pm. Find your polling place here: www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVote...
- Vote, vote, vote, #CambridgeMA! www.abettercambridge.org/endorsements...
- docs.google.com/spreadsheets... #CambMA EV+mail turnout is slightly higher in 2025 vs 2023, as of Saturday before election. Increases in precincts covering Alewife, Rindge, Port, Kendall, CX Crossing, some mid-Camb. Decreases in Wellington-Harrington, lower C-port @johnhawkinson.bsky.social
- Candidates running to reinstate residential segregation and raise rents in Cambridge can’t win if everyone votes!! Vote for REAL pro-housing candidates! www.abettercambridge.org/endorsements...
- Happy Halloween! Don’t forget to vote!!
- Spotted in East Cambridge. Thinking of changing my LinkedIn profile pic.
- Watch out, Cambridge, @marcgov.bsky.social out there scaring some folks! What is Eugenia Schraa-Huh’s costume? Eugenia campaigning for School Committee in a fascinator? Anyway, vote for these two on Tuesday!
- Take it from a corporate landlord salivating over how much he’s going to raise rents because no new apartments are getting built—the only way to keep rents from skyrocketing is to follow Cambridge’s lead and allow multifamily by-right!
- Vote for the pro-housing candidates who support multifamily housing by right—and lower rents—in Cambridge! www.abettercambridge.org/endorsements...
- Reposted by Justin S.My writeup of the #cambma ballot question on the Charter. (Sorry, this was filed last week and finally posted today, and I missed it going up this morning!)
- Reposted by Justin S.I can't stress this enough: in ranked choice systems like Cambridge has, your best bet at getting the council & school committee you want is to rank candidates in order of your genuine preference. That means you should give your #1 vote to the person you most want to win.
- Reposted by Justin S.It was wonderful celebrating all the Housing wins we’ve had in Massachusetts over the last year. Ft. @jessekb.bsky.social @berkie1.bsky.social @ajcampbellma.bsky.social
- Reposted by Justin S.Ayanna Pressley, the YIMBY? The congresswoman has endorsed the @abettercambr1dge.bsky.social backed City Council incumbents in Tuesday's election, all of whom voted for that monumental citywide multifamily zoning reform earlier this year. Via @politico.com
- So excited to welcome new families to East Cambridge!
- 💡 Cambridge is shaping the future of housing policy locally and nationally. From the Affordable Housing Overlay to new citywide multifamily zoning, the City is taking bold action to make housing more accessible for everyone. Read more here: camb.ma/47eP7lt
- Reposted by Justin S.They’re voting! Make sure that you are, too.
- Terrific piece in Cambridge Day by Sam Polzin about the need to build more homes to address by far the biggest challenge facing Cambridge residents—housing affordabilty! www.cambridgeday.com/2025/10/15/b...
- “My partner and I rent an apartment in a Cambridge building that is well over 100 years old. While it’s charming, we would love to move to a better maintained building with more modern amenities.”
- “Yet, we feel trapped in our current location by the lack of budget-friendly options near the friends and businesses that make the city home.”
-
View full thread(As an aside, the Day wrote the silly headline. 🙄 The point is obviously not bigger buildings for the sake of bigger buildings, it’s that we need an Abundance approach to address Cambridge’s housing shortage and affordability crisis! 🏘️)
- Reposted by Justin S.Boston can’t force the Fed to lower interest rates, but we should pursue an approach similar to what Cambridge has done: increase capacity across the whole city (not just small areas) and combine that with policies that protect affordable housing developments from getting targeted by stupid lawsuits
- ABC’s all-star housing panel, 6 pm tomorrow at the Senior Center, 806 Mass Ave in Central Sq, also has a Zoom option! us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
- The point of this effort by Councillor Zusy is to kill all green multifamily inclusionary homes, which would increase Cambridge’s carbon emissions and send rents through the roof.
- Cambridge City Council has followed this data and taken steps to increase the supply of homes and decrease rents. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling you a bill of goods.
- So well deserved!!
- We’re proud to honor AG Andrea Campbell as our 2025 Partner of the Year! 🏆 Her bold enforcement of the MBTA Communities Act shows that housing laws matter and every community must do its part to solve the housing crisis. Party with us Oct. 23 in Brighton www.abundanthousingma.org/ahmas-celebr...
- Reposted by Justin S.Multifamily real estate development faces big hurdles—high costs, regulations and more—limiting housing supply and fueling the #housing crisis. Urban’s new #research compares developers in 10 #cities, highlights small and emerging firms, and explores a philanthropic initiative.
- Reposted by Justin S.Harvard just beat Trump in court. It wasn't just their lawyers. It was us: students, faculty, alumni, and the community writ large. This moment feels overwhelming. We can't stop every attack, but we can slow them down and protect our own. That's the work and I need your vote to keep doing it.
- The Color of Law is one of the most important books ever written about redlining and exclusionary zoning.
- Reposted by Justin S.Good take here by Mayor Simmons, Vice Mayor McGovern, & Councilors Siddiqui and Sobrinho-Wheeler. The project will use the hotel revenue to finance restoration & preservation while opening the site to the public & building 50 units of much-needed housing with 20% affordable. It's a win-win-win.
- Reminder: ABC City Council Candidate Forum is next Wednesday, 6 pm!
- Reposted by Justin S."The best way to honor Jacobs is not by allowing her home to languish with makeshift repairs, as some have suggested, but by securing its future while advancing Cambridge’s values of dignity, inclusion and shelter."
- Housing affordability remains a huge concern—why Cambridge and Massachusetts need to listen to residents’ needs and build more homes! studyfinds.org/your-kids-mi...
- Great way to end this wasteful litigation and spend the money on the shelter and services instead!
- what if we just dropped the requirement for a special permit to operate a shelter? @benforward3.bsky.social @jtforward2.bsky.social ?
- Concerned about housing prices? Join us for A Better Cambridge’s City Council forum and find out what each candidate plans to do about it!
- #CambMA City Council Candidate Forum on #Housing, Sept 10 at 6:00 pm at the Cambridge Senior Center, 806 Mass. Ave. in Central Square Register here to attend in person or via Zoom: forms.gle/rL8mYaBt7LoZ...
- Reposted by Justin S.We'll see whether I can stick it out to the end, but I'm remote attending the CHC meeting on 17 Story St. Devs propose to relocate & preserve the historic Harriet Jacobs House on the same site, and demolish a 3-story building, to build a hotel and 50 apartments. Harvard Sq Conservation District.
- In case you didn’t spend six hours with the Historical Commission last night, @jfsheehan.bsky.social has you covered! Find out if the Commission said yes to $16-17 million in subsidized inclusionary housing for Cambridge families!
- This study shows why Cambridge’s new multifamily zoning is so important for decreasing housing costs!
- 👀Some of these Cambridge residents opposed ending exclusionary zoning. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/30/m...
- Rent is way too high in Cambridge, but some candidates want to go back to banning apartment buildings in certain neighborhoods—let’s keep moving forward and put hundreds more dollars a month in the pockets of every renter!
- Join North #CambMA Pro-Housing Meetup Sunday Aug 3 Organize with www.abciepac.org to elect a pro-housing city council Aug 3 Sunday 2-4pm
- Reposted by Justin S.Proud to have helped one blue city that is getting it right! Please donate now to ensure our progress is not rolled back and we can continue to get it right! #CambMA #mapoli bsky.app/profile/caro...
- The Limits of Sprawl - #CambMA one blue city that is getting it right! open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
