When It Comes to More Affordability in Housing, Our Politicians Talk the Talk

  As a baby boomer I have seen many things only go in one direction which is DOWN. I have never lived in Revere but I know the city well by always having family there. Oh, and having a great amusement park was just an extra benefit.

  The Boston Globe had a frontpage story last week on page one about Revere and the housing boom. The news story clearly pointed out the Housing Boom in the city of Revere but it also pointed out how the boom has left so many behind.

  Too often, much of the real estate boom doesn’t help ordinary folks and ordinary families trying to call Revere home. Everywhere you look, like in my own East Boston, housing keeps getting more expensive and out of range for working families, struggling middle-class homeowners and newly arriving immigrant groups.

  The time is long overdue for our elected officials in Revere and elsewhere to speak directly to this issue and deliver. It is easy to talk the talk but what have you done lately for the people who call Revere their home and who are always feeling like at any time this dream of theirs could just disappear. If rents increase due to the constant overdevelopment, it does seem to hurt regular folks who are just trying to survive in this toxic housing environment we now live with and feeling so helpless about.

  Our elected need to have our backs. They need to be speaking out and acting on behalf of their constituencies. How many folks just move out looking elsewhere? The job of local elected officials is to make sure this new housing development doesn’t abandon working-class families who often have no financial choice but to leave.

  Our cities must remain open to all. Now is the time for City Hall to commit to that.