To the editor:
Can affordable housing exist in Swampscott or do we not want that in our backyards? The crescendoing resistance to the Elm Place 40B project is indicating that there are a lot of people in this town that aren’t so keen on adding affordable housing into their neighborhood, or at least they might if only the terms were convenient to them. Speaking honestly, Swampscott, I don’t think that’s a very good look and the dog whistles and fear-mongering being used are inappropriate. I would love for this community to have a conversation about how best to bring affordable housing (or even low-income housing, which 40B projects are not) to Swampscott because though I think it’s in the right direction, I don’t think this project is perfect by any means.
However, we can’t have that conversation until people start saying “Yes In My Backyard” (YIMBY) first.
Both on the petition put out by the Concerned Citizens Against Elm Place and in comments by the Swampscott Equity Association, the strange detail that Swampscott is the “third most densely-populated town” in Massachusetts, and that this is somehow a negative quality, keeps showing up as a primary complaint.
First, Swampscott’s standing in the list of towns by density appears debatable. Second, why just towns? The government structure of a municipality does not appear to be related to density, which is why in Massachusetts there are cities both less dense and denser than some towns and vice versa. Third, who cares? The densest town is Brookline, by the way, and by a lot compared to Swampscott, and it continues to be a place where many people desire to live.
In a world where the density of just about every municipality is increasing, we should perhaps plan for increasing density instead of fighting it. There are a number of solutions that aid in this, like reducing dependency on cars by improving bike/walk-ability and improving public transportation.
Additionally, research suggests that denser municipalities are actually more efficient in terms of energy use, infrastructure strain, and overall environmental impact per person than single-family home communities, so why are we fighting that?
If anything, we should be asking how we can invite in density instead of wishing it would just happen elsewhere. People often use the objection of “density” intentionally or not as a code word for things like crime and poverty despite no evidence to support the link, and yes, sometimes this translates to a fear of having Black or brown neighbors.
I don’t think most of the people making these objections see how they are contributing to the continued housing segregation in this country, but they are. Let’s own the fact that we are a predominantly-white community that isn’t diversifying at pace with the rest of the state and that needs to change.
How we deal with zoning and housing is so crucial to dismantling systemic racism. The whole purpose of 40B is to be able to skirt around some zoning restrictions to increase the stock of affordable housing in a community up to at least 10 percent and that’s not a high number.
Currently in Swampscott, we are at 3 percent. Historically, zoning restrictions have been a key tool in keeping mostly Black and brown people out of predominantly-white communities. While 40B projects certainly won’t solve this problem by themselves, they do point us in the right direction.
So instead of trying to slow projects like this down to some unreasonable time table, modify them dramatically, or even stop them completely, we should take a page from improv and say “Yes, and…”
Let’s say yes to the 40B project and we should make sure it has more affordable units for families.
Let’s say yes to the 40B project and we should invest more in public transportation and improve walk- and bike-ability in this town to reduce our reliance on cars.
Let’s say yes to the 40B project and ask what else can we do to make our community a more welcoming and inclusive one so especially Black and brown families will want to be a part of it?
What message are we sending to people that may want to live in these affordable housing units in the future? Projects like this are a net positive for our community, not a burden, but they’re going to require more of us to be YIMBYs to get done.
Aaron Berdofe
Swampscott