There’s no housing shortage — just a shortage of a particular type of housing. I oppose the new Hawley Street developments and the Picture Main Street mess, which will inevitably go over budget. Taxpayers will be forced to pay the bill, funneling money away from schools and into the hands of cronies.
I live in one of the last “affordable” corners of the city — a floodplain by the water treatment plant. “Affordable” is a lie. My rent is tied to “fair market value,” a number that magically inflates with every new luxury development. These half-empty complexes aren’t for locals; they’re meant to attract wealthy outsiders who will soon be calling the cops on my brown kids for walking down their own streets. Developers swan in, rezone everything, break promises, and leave us holding the bag: skyrocketing rents, soaring taxes, and a neighborhood that’s no longer ours.
Here’s how it works:
1. Luxury developments set the market rate. Their absurd prices drag up “fair market rent” calculations. My neighbor’s rent just jumped from $900 to $1,300 because an algorithm said so.
2. Taxes follow suit. As property values rise, longtime homeowners get squeezed. Some sell to speculators; others hike rents. We lose.
3. Displacement is the point. The goal is to flip the neighborhood. The working class gets priced out, the encampments grow, and the city shrugs.
Meanwhile, our sidewalks crumble and the bus never comes. But sure, let’s pretend the problem is “not enough supply” as luxury condos gather dust.
This isn’t NIMBYism — it’s watching your community be erased. We’re not anti-development; we’re anti-displacement. Flood a working-class area with luxury units, and the rest of us drown. But keep calling it “progress.” One day, you’ll wonder who’s left to serve your coffee.
Jamie Guerin
Northampton