When incentives aren't enough : challenges in Chapter 40R Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District Act implementation

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Robayna, Matthew S
Other Authors: Karl Seidman.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118237
_version_ 1826203534562951168
author Robayna, Matthew S
author2 Karl Seidman.
author_facet Karl Seidman.
Robayna, Matthew S
author_sort Robayna, Matthew S
collection MIT
description Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T12:38:33Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/118237
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language eng
last_indexed 2024-09-23T12:38:33Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/1182372019-04-12T17:30:03Z When incentives aren't enough : challenges in Chapter 40R Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District Act implementation Challenges in Chapter 40R Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District Act implementation Robayna, Matthew S Karl Seidman. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 59-61). The Greater Boston area has some of the highest housing costs in the country, a trend which has only intensified through the nation's recovery from the recent global financial crisis. Greater Boston has a fragmented municipal system, with individual cities and towns controlling their own land use regulations. This fragmentation has led to a system where cities and towns regulate land use in an uncoordinated manner, leaving the entire region with a shortage of housing and raising housing costs. In 2004, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts enacted Chapter 40R, the Smart Growth Overly District Act, to incentivize communities to implement zoning districts that allow dense housing by right. To date, very few communities in Greater Boston have enacted Chapter 40R districts, and once those districts are enacted, very few of the newly-zoned units are built. This thesis seeks to explore the causes behind these phenomena. Communities in the region are loath to implement 40R districts because of an aversion to growth, in particular multifamily development. Misconceptions about program requirements may also prevent town planners from using 40R as a planning tool for their communities. Developers don't often utilize 40R as a permitting mechanism because it is riskier to implement than Chapter 40B permitting. Even when 40R districts are established, units are not always built because of market conditions or land availability. While 40R has produced successful developments across the state, this report calls into question whether an incentive-based development policy is sufficient to deal with the region's current housing shortage. by Matthew S. Robayna. M.C.P. 2018-09-28T20:58:09Z 2018-09-28T20:58:09Z 2018 2018 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118237 1053889466 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 68 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Urban Studies and Planning.
Robayna, Matthew S
When incentives aren't enough : challenges in Chapter 40R Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District Act implementation
title When incentives aren't enough : challenges in Chapter 40R Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District Act implementation
title_full When incentives aren't enough : challenges in Chapter 40R Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District Act implementation
title_fullStr When incentives aren't enough : challenges in Chapter 40R Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District Act implementation
title_full_unstemmed When incentives aren't enough : challenges in Chapter 40R Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District Act implementation
title_short When incentives aren't enough : challenges in Chapter 40R Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District Act implementation
title_sort when incentives aren t enough challenges in chapter 40r massachusetts smart growth zoning overlay district act implementation
topic Urban Studies and Planning.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118237
work_keys_str_mv AT robaynamatthews whenincentivesarentenoughchallengesinchapter40rmassachusettssmartgrowthzoningoverlaydistrictactimplementation
AT robaynamatthews challengesinchapter40rmassachusettssmartgrowthzoningoverlaydistrictactimplementation