On Aug. 10, the Lynn City Council was scheduled to hear a presentation from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) regarding the Housing Lynn Production Plan. Instead, due to technical difficulties, that presentation was unfortunately postponed.
Housing, however, is a pressing issue for the city that deserves not only immediate attention but action. In addition to increasing rental costs, it bears noting that while 62 percent of Lynn residents are considered low-income and a little over half are renters, just 0.5 percent of housing currently under construction is affordable (source: Aaron Clausen, Lynn city planner).
“Affordable” is defined by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as being 30 percent of household income. Lynn’s current median household income is $53,513, which would make affordable housing costs approximately $1,338 per month; median rent in the city, however, is $1,790 plus utilities.
According to the MAPC report, 42 percent of Lynn residents are cost burdened, paying more than a third of their household income on housing costs. As a result, many Lynn residents are residing in overcrowded and unaffordable rental units and many face eviction even with the extended moratorium in place.
Even for those with stable income and a decent salary, home ownership or even the ability to rent as a single person without roommates is out of reach. All of this matters when we talk about the housing crisis facing Lynn.
To be clear, the city absolutely deserves to have a thriving downtown and I am not opposed to market-rate housing. However, the needs of the community, taking into account current demographics, are paramount.
So far, new developments have done nothing to benefit the people who have spent their lives making Lynn the place we love. We need to build around their needs first before developing in order to cater to those presently living outside of Lynn.
Crafting a housing plan through this lens has far-reaching implications. Most notably, crime is always a concern for city residents. In thinking about crime rates, the Lynn Police Department has specifically linked those rates, in part, with housing instability.
Within the Lynn Public Schools district, there are approximately 1,100 homeless students, representing 7 percent of the school population. The Lynn School Committee, which has endorsed the housing plan, has recognized housing insecurity and homelessness as a barrier to learning and achievement that needs to be contended with in order to improve educational outcomes.
We also have residents living in unsafe living conditions due to the cost of living, which became particularly troublesome during the pandemic as a matter of public health. The issue of housing does not exist in a silo and is relevant to larger discussions such as those around the environment, social mobility, domestic violence and mental health, in addition to crime and educational achievement.
Adopting the Plan, which was developed with input from hundreds of Lynn residents, will lead to an opportunity to address housing for all Lynn residents, not just those in a specific income bracket.
This is not only an “affordable” housing plan — it’s a housing plan that includes considerations for first-time homeownership, which is now out of reach for many, creating space for small businesses and offering protections for tenants and landlords alike.
It will also not destroy investment in the city (the EDIC, Lynn Planning Department and Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development all agree on this point). It will not increase the school population, either, which was already seeing an increase in population in recent years.
What it will do is commit the city to looking at multiple tools to address the crisis in Lynn, laying the foundation for improving the lives of so many of our city’s residents.
Alternatively, rejecting the plan is a vote in favor of a segregated city and for forcing people out of their community and away from their families. Personally, it’s a vote against my mother living in her downtown apartment and my friends who were forced to move south.
Without a Plan, the city could be turned over to outside developers who may not have the city’s best interests at heart. What we need now more than ever is to pass the housing plan, institute policies like inclusionary zoning and equity impact reviews and make sure our community benefits from all new developments.
Moreover, we need to firmly and unequivocally put Lynn residents who live here today first. Looking outside of the city, in thinking about development, tells current Lynn residents that they do not matter, what they need is not a concern and that they are not the “right” type of resident. It is the people, the community, that makes up a city, not the buildings, however luxurious.
We are at a critical juncture and have the chance to live up to our name of being “the city of firsts” by being the first city in the commonwealth to do development right. Passing the housing plan is the first step in becoming a housing pioneer in Massachusetts but, more importantly, in doing right by our city’s residents.
A Lynn Classical High School and University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth graduate, Marven Hyppolite is a Lynn resident running for city councilor-at-large. He currently works for U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton’s office handling housing, immigration and social security/Medicare issues. For more information: www.marvenforlynn.com.