The city of Lynn has always been resilient. The city of Lynn has always been prideful. And the city of Lynn has always taken care of its neighbors. We can point to countless examples of people and agencies chipping in to help families during a time of crisis, whether it’s a devastating fire or unforeseen medical emergency. Time and time again, Lynners step up. It’s who we are.
This is especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic — from the creation of social media pages facilitating donations of diapers, toiletries, furniture and other forms of mutual aid, to the mobilizing of massive food drives and food distribution efforts in collaboration with the Salvation Army. Lynners continue to step up in big ways.
It’s time for us to step up once again as Lynn is faced with a different type of crisis. It’s an ongoing crisis that some of us may not notice, and one that is difficult to attribute to a single face or family. It’s not a singular event. It’s a crisis that is complex and will never be completely resolved. It’s our housing crisis.
Lynn has long been an affordable place to live, even as Boston and other surrounding communities became expensive. That has now changed due to an increased demand to live in the inner core, and too little housing production in response.
Between 2015 and 2018, median rent for a two-bedroom apartment went up 27 percent and the median home sale price went up 34 percent in Lynn. In 2020 alone, the median rent jumped 15 percent.
The city’s median rent in 2020 was $1,910, which is more than the median rent statewide. Now, Lynn is the sixth most expensive city for housing in the Boston metro area.
In response, the Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development (LHAND) embarked upon a housing production plan, “Housing Lynn: A Plan for Inclusive Growth,” on behalf of the city in 2019.
The plan was grant-funded and utilized the expertise of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to administer the very public process. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly caused setbacks and unique outreach challenges to the process, but it has also highlighted the distressing housing needs of the community.
From the onset of this process, the data collected painted a very grim picture. In the four years prior to the beginning of the housing production plan, from 2014 to 2018, the city of Lynn increased its total housing units by a dismal 340 units, or roughly 1 percent of its total of 35,701 units.
Of the 35,701 total housing units in the city, 4,435 units are listed on the state’s Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI), which represents 12.4 percent. Essentially, these are project-based subsidies that are registered with the state.
Compared to neighboring communities, this percentage of subsidized units may seem high. However, Lynn has a much greater need. There are 48 percent of renters in the city that are cost-burdened or extremely cost-burdened.
As of the last housing market study in 2016, there were 4.4 low- or moderate-income families for every one low- or moderate-income dwelling unit.
These renters also had limited options as Lynn’s vacancy rate, according to that study, was under 2 percent.
Similar to past studies, “Housing Lynn: A Plan for Inclusive Growth,” points out Lynn’s past stagnation with development and great demand for housing of all kinds. However, in recent years, great strides were made to attract development and eliminate restrictions and road blocks.
The city created a favorable environment for new development with zoning changes in the downtown and waterfront, a revised waterfront master plan, tax incentives, MassWorks projects, facilitation of land swaps, cultivating arts and placemaking efforts and creating a Transformative Development Initiative district (TDI) and a Housing Development Initiative Program (HDIP) zone.
This positive change was no easy task and many people deserve credit for this turnaround. Lynn is now positioned for significant development in the coming years. This is truly an accomplishment and helps address the city’s lack of growth and supply.
Conversely, the plan explains that the increase in development and investment alone can also compound the hardships for the most vulnerable residents in our community. Rising property values will lead to the sale of multi-family buildings, rents will continue to rise, families overcrowding and exceeding occupancy will occur, and without proper tenant protections we will see the displacement of Lynn residents as an indirect result. Combined with extreme market conditions and the economic effects of the current pandemic, these conditions are devastating to many residents. It is abundantly clear that the creation of affordable housing needs to be a prominent component to our housing development efforts.
Affordable housing’s cost restrictions ensure that income-eligible households can stay in their communities without having to make difficult financial decisions, such as skipping meals or doctor’s appointments to have enough money to pay for their homes. Without deed restrictions, housing costs can go up as markets rise, making homes that were once inexpensive now costly. Deed-restricted affordable housing helps to protect communities from skyrocketing costs and related displacement. Many of the same families that rely on the food distribution efforts during the pandemic are those that are cost-burdened in their home.
For these reasons, “Housing Lynn: A Plan for Inclusive Growth” is a vital tool as we move forward to guide future development and housing policy. The recommendations within can help create guardrails for new development. This plan gives the city data-driven best practices that are designed to complement our past efforts and help alleviate unintended displacement. We will be able to offer incentives and strategically address affordable and mixed-income housing as an important component to the future of Lynn’s housing development.
The plan is now final and we are at a critical juncture. It would be a shame to allow this opportunity to pass. It has been a transparent effort and has allowed for dialogue between residents, stakeholders, and housing advocates, so all can be proud and excited for the future development and investment in the city while protecting its most vulnerable residents.
“Housing Lynn: A Plan for Inclusive Growth” is greatly needed, and Lynners need to once again step up and support each other in crisis.
Charles J. Gaeta is the executive director of Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development.