US Mayors Cite Housing Costs as Most Pressing Economic Concern in New Survey by BU Researchers

Four out of five US mayors identified increasing housing costs as a top economic challenge facing their cities—far ahead of other concerns including rising living costs, poverty, and wage stagnation—though they see themselves with a limited toolset to change local housing markets. Regarding public safety, three of four mayors agree that civilians should be banned from acquiring assault rifles under any circumstances—a view that includes support from 40 percent of Republican city leaders. And mayors report feeling more accountable to their constituents on a range of public safety and health issues, from gun violence to mental health concerns, than they did when researchers posed the same questions four years ago.

US Mayors Take on Climate Change

The 2022 Menino Survey of Mayors examined how 118 mayors across the United States think about climate action. Mayors were asked about their opinions on climate change and the changes they are willing to make using regulatory powers or other local actions. Nearly all mayors surveyed worried about local impacts of climate change, including drought, extreme heat, flooding, and air pollution. Most mayors (73%) agreed that cities should use their resources and funds to address climate change locally, with mayors expressing greater interest in investing in new green technology than imposing restrictions on their citizens. The most popular motivation for local climate action was “desire to do our part” (79% chose it as their top two), followed by concern about the impacts on their city (38%) and long-term money-saving potential (29%).

Prof. Loretta Lees: Gentrification is Global, Revising the Definition and Borders of Gentrification (Interview)

Professor Loretta Lees is the current Faculty Director of the Initiative on Cities at Boston University and is an urban geographer and urbanist who is internationally known for her research on gentrification and urban regeneration. Emiliya Akhundova and Anna Jonczyk interview Professor Lees on her books “Gentrification” – the first textbook on gentrification – and “Planetary Gentrification.” In this interview, Professor Lees discusses how the term “gentrification” has been overburdened and that there are new, more specific terms that may better describe the changes occurring across various locations: classical, rural, new-build, and super-gentrification.

Why are London’s housing estates choosing to be demolished?

The demolition forms part of a multibillion-pound “regeneration” scheme that was first announced in the early Noughties. So far, however, the site of the mooted project has shown signs of neglect rather than renewal. Residents of the estate – a mix of social tenants, leaseholders and private renters – have long struggled with the council to get mice-infested, asbestos-ridden and draughty homes fixed. Their community centre has closed and the community has hollowed out as neighbours have sold up or been moved out in anticipation of the long-awaited redevelopment.

One to One with Suzy Wrack: The House I Grew Up In

Football writer Suzy Wrack talks to urban geographer and professor at Boston University, Loretta Lees, about how growing up on council estates shaped their lives, and led them to studying the impact of space and design.

Few Mayors Connect the Dots Between Zoning and Homelessness

Last January the Boston University Initiative on Cities, drawing on data from the 2021 Menino Survey of Mayors, reported that only 1 in 5 mayors felt they had more than “moderate” control over homelessness in their cities. Six in 10 pointed to limited funding as the biggest barrier, and close to 7 in 10 had the view that zoning was a barrier of little or no consequence, despite the impact of zoning codes on housing development.

5 ways local leaders can use the Racial Wealth Equity Database

The large wealth gap between Black and White families in America has persisted for generations—and mayors are determined to find ways to finally address it. In the most recent Menino Survey of Mayors, 67 percent of mayors said they are worried about the racial wealth gap in their cities. Of those mayors, overwhelming majorities support targeted programs to help Black and Latino residents build businesses and increase homeownership. When city leaders get down to designing new policies and programs, however, they quickly discover a problem. The data they need to inform their efforts—local-level data on assets, homeownership, and more—can be difficult to find broken down by race.

Greater Boston Housing Earns “Failing Grade” in Annual Report Card

Released on Wednesday, the 2022 Greater Boston Housing Report Card—the Boston Foundation’s annual accounting of the state of housing in Boston and the area surrounding the city—shows that the region “would receive a failing grade” along almost every metric for measuring housing accessibility, equity, and availability, said M. Lee Pelton, Boston Foundation president and CEO, during a report launch event. (Pelton is also a member of the BU Board of Trustees.)

Real/Symbol Episode 2: Land, place, roots

In our second episode we will explore more deeply how our ideas about place and land shape how we might begin the healing and repair from the violence caused by displacement, gentrifcation and urban development. In our often enclosed narratives of extraction and profit, we have allowed the logic of capitalism to tell us what’s possible, but our imaginations can and must stretch further.