A Call to Fight Back Against Rent Increases in Boston (2 of 2)

These are not isolated incidents. Rather, it is part of a growing trend of uncontrolled rent increase driven by the market and upscale housing developments. Moreover, government funding for housing subsidies have been dramatically cut in the last few years. As a result, even tenants of subsidized units are at the risk of being priced out, nonetheless those who are not fortunate enough to obtain assistance for housing. It has come to the point where it is not sufficient anymore to organize the different groups of tenants in isolation. There needs to be a more community-wide, and even city-wide, strategic approach to address this encroaching housing crisis. Resources for housing are getting scarce while market prices are soaring. It is essential to increase and target what limited funds we have for those who need it the most.

For example, different community and advocacy groups, housing activists, and tenants have gone to a rally at the State House to advocate for an increase for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program that subsidizes low income tenants. The Whose Boston coalition, which is made up of different housing and development activists, have created an agenda platform to address the deliberate public policies that have continued to displace working class people and communities of color in the interests of the big business and the wealthy. Chinatown is not alone in its struggle. There needs to be an intercommunity collective effort to address this systemic housing and development problem.

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