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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 8h

Imagine proposing Beacon Hill to Beacon Hill. 📍Boston, MA

Reposted by Jonathan Berk 🏠

Thomas (he/him) @thomas--72.bsky.social · 14h

The Boomer conception of the 'burbs as consisting entirely of single-family detached homes, together with their belief that the value of their homes depends on that, is a major cause of our housing crisis. Would town homes be the end of the world?

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 16h

Lincoln is just 6 miles from Boston, yet the town requires an 80,000sf minimum lot and 50-foot setbacks on all sides to build a single home anywhere in town. That’s nearly 2 acres just to build one house.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

“In the time it takes for a developer in Boston to get permission to build a house, a developer in Indianapolis has not only secured permits, hired construction workers, and bought materials — they’ve also finished building the house.” www.theargumentmag.com/p/how-to-kil...

theargumentmag.com

How to kill housing with paperwork

It takes longer to get permits in Boston than to build a house in Phoenix

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Fall in New England is SPECTACULAR 📍Salem, MA

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Built in 1795, this 4-bed, 4-bath home in historic Old Town Marblehead sits on just a 2,000sf lot. Today, you’d need a lot over 4x the size to build the same home here. Imagine proposing Marblehead to Marblehead today…

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“We’re trying to make sure we build no house? I don’t get it. People live in houses.” Marblehead’s David Modica is endorsing YES ON 7, a ballot question to legalize starter homes and make it easier to build more houses for people across Massachusetts.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

"A drop of approximately 20% in inflation-adjusted rents—as happened in Austin, Texas, and Minneapolis after those cities made reforms—could reduce poverty by 18% to 26% and child poverty by 21% to 38%." @pewresearch.org www.pew.org/en/research-...

pew.org

The Housing Shortage Is a Major Driver of Poverty

Housing costs are usually the largest item in a household’s budget and can determine a family’s financial stability.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

New England has normalized building too little housing. It’s not just a Massachusetts problem, all six New England states have been lagging far behind the rest of the country in housing production for decades.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

whenever I’m feeling sad and need a good laugh I just watch old clips of Marblehead residents reacting to proposed zoning changes at Town Meeting…

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

the reaction when you propose building a duplex in an exclusionary Massachusetts suburb

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Reposted by Jonathan Berk 🏠

Patrick Siegman @siegman.biz · 29/09/2026

We need a good investigative journalist to look into these claims circulating on the Internet. Is the sky still standing in Salem, Massachusetts?

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

One year ago today, my City eliminated minimum parking requirements for multifamily housing. One year later: the sky didn’t fall. Most projects still include parking. But some infill housing is finally moving forward where parking mandates once made it infeasible. 📍Salem, MA

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Marblehead, MA may have some of the most absurd residential parking requirements I’ve encountered. "For residential uses... there shall be TWO (2) exterior parking spaces for each dwelling unit. Garage, carport or tandem spaces shall not be used to satisfy this requirement."

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Are we kinda being pricks?" Volume 2. The Winthrop Edition.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The nor’ easter meets Halloween in Salem

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Some Falmouth Planning Board members balk at legalizing starter homes on small lots & complain “state overreach” is infringing on local control. Yet the homes located in some of town’s most in-demand n-hoods could not be built today because the lots deemed “undersized” by current zoning standards.

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Reposted by Jonathan Berk 🏠

🎃 Spooky Shoshana 🎃 @shoshana.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

At a minimum, we need de-facto zoning. You should be allowed to build what already exists in an area.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

99% of Boston's existing residential parcels could not be built today under it's current 4,000+ page zoning code, the longest in North America. If your zoning makes 99% of your city illegal... it's time to throw it out and start over.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Massachusetts’ housing permitting system puts everyone in a bad position. Planning boards, staff, neighbors, and developers are often responding rationally to a system that fosters uncertainty, rewards delay, and makes housing more expensive. My new report, “Delayed by Design,” looks at why.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A U.S. Congressman, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 5 mayors, 6 state senators, 8 state representatives, 13 city councilors, a county commissioner, select board members, and a county sheriff have all signed on to support Yes on 7 to legalize starter homes, once again, in Massachusetts.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

“Communities depend on having housing options that working families & young people can actually afford. Supporting this ballot question will help break down barriers to homeownership, keep our state competitive, and allow our young people to stay & thrive in MA.” @massltgovernor.bsky.social

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

🚨Massachuestts' Gov. Healey has endorsed Yes on Question 7! . “Legalize Starter Homes” makes it easier to build smaller, more attainable homes on smaller lots. “By opening doors to first-time homeowners, we’ll help more young people afford to stay in MA and build their future here.”

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American Century of BOO-miliation @johnperich.com · 20/09/2026

It's been wild watching this play out on the South Shore. One town after another decides they don't want to upzone. Lawyers, town managers, etc tell people their town will lose state money. People vote down the upzoning. Town loses state money. Town sues, town loses. Repeat.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell (D) is now undefeated in her efforts to uphold municipal compliance with the MBTA Communities Act.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

“Permissive zoning is not the same as permission to build.” My new report, Delayed by Design: How Discretionary Permitting Stalls Housing in Massachusetts, looks at how permitting uncertainty drives delays, increases costs & makes housing allowed on paper harder to build.

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Reposted by Jonathan Berk 🏠

Boston Indicators @bosindicators.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Learn more in our report, “Delayed by Design: How Discretionary Permitting Stalls Housing in Massachusetts.” buff.ly/VrboRp2

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Shocking to absolutely no one... The SJC has, once again, upheld the MBTA Communities Act, ruling that it was was not an "unfunded mandate," despite claims to the contrary by Auditor Dizoglio. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/18/m...

bostonglobe.com

State’s highest court renews its support for MBTA Communities Act, deems it ‘valid general law’ - The Boston Globe

Writing for the court, Justice Serge Georges Jr. dismissed Marshfield’s contention that the law creates an unfunded local mandate.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Bloomington City Council voted 5-3 this week to eliminate mandatory minimum parking requirements citywide and cut minimum lot sizes in R3 zones from 5,000 to 2,000sf and R4 zones from 4,000 to 2,000sf. 📍Bloomington, IN

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

“Even well-intentioned communities can still find their housing production stuck in slow gear thanks to a lack of state guardrails governing site plan reviews, rules that give too many local boards veto power over individual projects…”

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

38 Norman Street should have been a 6-story, 32-unit by-right project in Salem’s most permissive downtown district. Abutter opposition led the developer to cut it to 4 stories and 20 units. They were sued anyway. Read my new Massachusetts permitting report; "Delayed be Design" out today.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Boston should no longer be exempt from statewide zoning reform. It makes little policy sense for reforms designed to expand housing production to apply to 350 cities and towns while leaving out Massachusetts' largest city and housing market. Boston needs to do its part.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Haddon Hall, in Boston’s Back Bay is 116’ tall, nearly twice the height of the surrounding brownstones. Built in 1894, it took advantage of the fact that the Back Bay had yet to impose height limits. Its construction lead to Boston’s first height restrictions.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

New Massachusetts growth strategy… Market Basket Oriented Development (MBOD)

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This 4-story flatiron building in Harvard Square was built in 1891 as private student housing for Harvard students. It sits on a tiny 2,017sf corner lot.

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Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem @burhanazeem.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Thank you all for the opportunity. We didn’t quite make it, but I’ll continue the good work in Cambridge. I’ll miss serving the rest of you. 💙

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Reposted by Jonathan Berk 🏠

Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The Northeast has some of the largest minimum lot-size requirements in North America. Fewer places to build = fewer homes = higher prices. Research in Eastern Massachusetts found large increases in minimum lot sizes can drive up home prices by 15–20% or more.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

“The Arboretum isn’t at risk, affordable housing in Jamaica Plain is.” If you live in Boston, please sign this form to let your elected leaders know you support needed housing in Jamaica Plain. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/d5...

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

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Tony Dutzik @frontiertony.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

This bike lane is a vital transportation connection and very well used. Also, riding over the Mass. Ave. bridge at night, with the city arrayed around you, is a sublime experience. Breathtaking. Thanks to everyone who made this happen.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Boston is an incredible place. We should stop gatekeeping this beautiful city and region and build a ton of new housing so more people can afford to live here, experience it, contribute to making it even better and call it home.

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I’m old enough to remember when people lost their minds over a plan to install this bike lane… …that was 5 years ago. It’s awesome now. 🚲 📍Mass Ave Bridge

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

“Democrats now make up about 24% of the state’s more than 5.1 million registered voters. Republicans have fallen below 8%, their lowest share since at least 1948. The state’s already outsized proportion of unenrolled voters has hit a new high, accounting for just over 67%.”

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Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

“A livable Cambridge for all*” *subject to terms and conditions. Available only to those who can afford the $2.4mil median single family home price, $1mil median condo price or $3,500/month median 1-bed rent.

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