Current:Home > MyBoston Mayor Michelle Wu pledges to make it easier for homeowners to create accessory housing units-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu pledges to make it easier for homeowners to create accessory housing units
View Date:2024-12-23 21:02:47
BOSTON (AP) — Making it easier for Boston homeowners to create smaller, independent living units inside their homes or yards is just one of the proposals offered by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in her annual State of the City address Tuesday,
The proposal — a modest effort in part to address the city’s housing shortage — would streamline efforts by homeowner to construct the accessory dwelling units “to expand lower-cost housing options, empower residents to build wealth, and foster diverse, multigenerational living spaces,” Wu said.
It was also a more modest proposal than those championed by the Democrat when she was running for the office in 2021 — proposals like making greater Boston’s MBTA public transit system free. So far, a few bus lines are operating fair-free.
Wu pointed to a series of actions including working to ban fossil fuels in new city buildings, introducing zero net carbon zoning and launching Boston’s first-ever networked geothermal system aimed at delivering clean energy for heating and cooling to hundreds of families.
She said the city has launched a program to convert office buildings into residential complexes that has already attracted proposals to turn eight downtown buildings into housing. To tackle traffic, the city is using machine learning to detect where congestion is worst, then optimize signals to unclog key corridors.
Other goals outlined by Wu include preserving existing affordable housing across Boston’s neighborhoods and adding 50 electric school buses this year, more than doubling the current fleet of electric buses.
She also announced that starting in February, every Boston Public School student and up to three family members will get free admission on the first and second Sundays of each month, to a slew of cultural institutions, including the Boston Children’s Museum, the Franklin Park Zoo, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Science, and the New England Aquarium.
Wu said she was inspired by a story that her mother, a Taiwanese immigrant then struggling to understand a foreign language, told her about the time she took her in a stroller to a downtown museum on a Tuesday when admission was free so she could stare up at a painting of a cliff full of wildflowers.
“In this moment, this mom with no money and no words in this language feels like the best mom on earth because she has given her daughter the world for a day,” Wu said. “Tonight, her daughter gets to announce a new program for kids all across Boston, to feel at home in the places that show them the world.”
veryGood! (63512)
Related
- USMNT Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal Leg 1 vs. Jamaica: Live stream and TV, rosters
- Traveling to Hawaii? Here's what to know about the Maui fire.
- Man cited for animal neglect after dog dies in triple-digit heat during Phoenix hike
- No Gatekeeping: Here’s the Trick I’ve Used Since 2016 To Eliminate Ingrown Hairs and Razor Bumps
- Judith Jamison, acclaimed Alvin Ailey American dancer and director, dead at 81
- Attorney General Garland appoints a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe
- Charles Williams: The Risk Dynamo Redefining Finance
- ‘Ash and debris': Journalist covering Maui fires surveys destruction of once-vibrant Hawaii town
- Tennessee suspect in dozens of rapes is convicted of producing images of child sex abuse
- Disney plans to hike streaming prices, join Netflix in crack down on subscription sharing
Ranking
- Question of a lifetime: Families prepare to confront 9/11 masterminds
- Federal judge will hear arguments on potential takeover of New York City’s troubled jail system
- Arizona state fish, the Apache trout, is no longer considered endangered
- A college football player knew his teammate donated plasma to afford school. So, he gave him his scholarship.
- Can I take on 2 separate jobs in the same company? Ask HR
- A Georgia teacher wants to overturn her firing for reading a book to students about gender identity
- Las Vegas police videos show moments before home is raided in Tupac Shakur cold case
- 41 reportedly dead after migrant boat capsizes off Italian island
Recommendation
-
Inter Miami's MLS playoff failure sets stage for Messi's last act, Alexi Lalas says
-
Texas sheriff says 3 hog hunters from Florida died in an underground tank after their dog fell in
-
‘Ash and debris': Journalist covering Maui fires surveys destruction of once-vibrant Hawaii town
-
Florida education commissioner skips forum on criticized Black history standards
-
Jessica Simpson’s Sister Ashlee Simpson Addresses Eric Johnson Breakup Speculation
-
Last chance to pre-order new Samsung Galaxy devices—save up to $1,000 today
-
Review: Netflix's OxyContin drama 'Painkiller' is just painful
-
Da'vian Kimbrough, 13, becomes youngest pro soccer player in U.S. after signing with the Sacramento Republic