Dave Levy is an Arlington resident and a member of Town Meeting from Precinct 18. He has served on Town Meeting since 2017.
Since the fall 2023 Town Meeting, I’ve been thinking a lot about housing affordability in our town. While many options exist, one in particular keeps coming up in my mind to help move Arlington back to being more affordable – broaden our zoning options.
What led me to this point?
In the spring 2022 Town Meeting, Article 38 came up for a vote. If passed, it would have provided by-right ability to develop two-family housing in R0 and R1 zoning. In essence, there would no more restricted single-family housing zones in Arlington. Article 38 did not pass.
Opposed article then
I was on Town Meeting and voted against the article. I thought it best to preserve stability in the town. We had just come out of Covid, the first year our kids were in school full time, masks just started to be removed. I thought such a big change in town zoning, when as members of the town we were just getting back into the habit of seeing each other in public spaces without masks was too much.
Zoning and how much housing ultimately gets built in our town are our choices. I hear a lot of how the youth today, the kids, (ages 18+) are really frustrated at the cost of living, especially with housing. I get it. But it’s not Joe Biden’s fault. It’s our fault. We as a town, at the local level, decide how much housing gets built. A president, in charge of keeping us safe and secure, cannot, will not issue executive orders affecting our local zoning.
I remember hearing during the MBTA Community Zoning debate, which occurred in 2023, from young people wondering how exactly they could ever afford to live here. In my precinct, 18, we have a neighborhood formerly largely populated with “The Cape.” A smaller house, that could be big enough for a family to grow up in, or a starter home for a younger family. Those houses now never sell to new families or older couples looking to downsize. They sell to developers who knock them down, and build twice the square footage in their place.
‘Climate’ has changed
“Climate Change” is no longer a useful term, in my opinion. The climate we grew up with has changed. We just suffered from multiple days 95-plus degrees, with more hot days on the way. This makes me question why we should be building larger homes that require the more energy to cool, let alone heat.
Further, if you walk around our R0 and R1 neighborhoods in the summer, you’ll notice something. A lot of people simply are not here. They’re somewhere else. But our streets, built with asphalt, heat up, increasing the heat of our neighborhoods, while our houses use energy to cool spaces not in use.
We should have a choice. Developers should still build, but now they should build two for the price of one. Will splitting a house that would go for $1.5 million into two-family homes going for $750,000 be affordable for everyone? No. But it will help. It will create more opportunities for families, couples, single owners to move into Arlington, for older current homeowners to move into smaller homes. It would even give current homeowners the opportunity to rebuild their homes for one of their children to move into or just a smaller home.
How can children buy here?
This choice should apply not just to my house, built in 1959, but any house called “historic.” I walk down the streets in our “historic” neighborhoods. I think those homes are beautiful. But what does it say about our society that we’re holding on to every piece of these structures when our children have real concerns about their ability to live here one day on their own?
Which brings me back to the MBTA Zoning Act. I think if we’re going to increase our density, we should increase our density across town. I was proud to vote in favor of it. But it only increases zoning in certain areas. While it makes sense that density would be better served in busier areas, we all need to chip in and make this town as affordable and climate efficient as possible.
Simply put, we have a zoning policy that worked well for 1974, a state population 2 million less and a climate that didn’t require central air-conditioning. It’s now 2024 with the next Town Meeting in 2025. If brought up for a vote in 2025, I would vote in favor of by-right two-family zoning. It is time Arlington makes Arlington work better, one two-family house at a time.
May 8, 2022: Arlington is facing a housing crisis: Experts, residents explain their views
This viewpoint was published Monday, Aug. 5, 2024.
