Housing Headlines

LYNN --- With four new homes almost finished and destined to be sold to first-time homebuyers, the Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development (LHAND) has completed its 20-year effort to stabilize the Union Street with new homes under its Infill Housing Project Program.

BOSTON --- In her ongoing series of columns about Boston four decades after busing, the Boston Globe's Farah Stockman takes a look at the irony of towns stepping up to allow black students to attend schools through the METCO program while maintain zoning policies that results in making it impossible for blacks and families of modest means to afford homes there.

SPRINGFIELD --- Nearly 10 years after declaring war on chronic homelessness, the City of Springfield is seeing results as homelessness is down considerably due to a series of measures that included providing shelter and support services, permanent housing and the construction of a 24-hour homeless assistance center.

BOSTON --- The Boston Redevelopment Authority is taking preliminary steps toward rezoning part of Dorchester Ave. north of the Andrew MBTA station to promote a walkable, transit-accessible hub with apartments, green space and storefronts, remaking an area that now is home to many small industrial businesses.

NEWTON --- The often contentious debate over whether to allow developers to turn a municipal parking lot near the commuter rail into 68 apartments received some support as the Newton Tab published a strong editorial favoring the plan while chiding those who "would seemingly build a figurative wall around the Garden City, in order to preserve its character."

GLOUCESTER --- The only group to respond to the town's RFP for the 10.6 acre Fuller School property sketched out their plans for a mixed-use development recently. Plans for the site include 170 apartments, a new YMCA and retail space. The lone group to bid include Dolben Companies of Woburn, the North Shore Y, Windover Construction and Sam Park & Co.