Plenty of Room Podcast

In this episode of the Plenty of Room Podcast, Andrew and Nate dig into Boston’s stalled street safety and transit projects, including Hyde Park Avenue, Blue Hill Avenue, bus lanes, bike infrastructure, public engagement, and the Wu administration’s shifting approach to transportation policy.Then they turn to Councilor Sharon Durkan’s proposal to eliminate residential parking minimums citywide, explaining why parking mandates raise housing costs, block incremental development, and force Boston into an outdated, car-oriented zoning framework. The conversation connects transportation, housing, political courage, and the limits of hyperlocal consensus-building.Links:* WalkUP Roslindale action alert on Boston street safety and accountability.* Better Parking for Boston: volunteer group advocating for the repeal of costly residential parking mandates and better management of Boston’s on-street parking. * Councilor Sharon Durkan’s writeup on eliminating residential parking minimums citywide.* Boston City Council June 4 hearing on eliminating residential parking minimums.Intro music by Big Wild. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit plentyofroom.substack.com

In the first episode of the Plenty of Room Podcast, Nate and Andrew dig into two connected questions at the heart of Boston’s housing politics.First, they discuss the long-stalled proposal to turn the former Poor Clares monastery near the Arnold Arboretum into housing, including senior and affordable units, and why opposition over shadows and “viewsheds” has become a flashpoint in the broader fight over whether Boston will allow more homes in exactly the kinds of places where housing makes the most sense. They also talk through the larger stakes: access to parks, proximity to transit, environmental tradeoffs, and who gets to benefit from living near major public amenities.Then they turn to Jerusalem Demsas’s essay in The Atlantic, “Community Input Is Bad, Actually” and compare its argument to their own experience in Boston neighborhood planning meetings. They discuss why public processes often overrepresent a narrow slice of residents, why repeated evening meetings tend to filter out ordinary people with jobs, kids, and other obligations, and why hyper-local decision-making so often produces delay, conflict, and too little housing.Along the way, they also reference research on who tends to dominate local land-use politics and a book on how public engagement can be made more inclusive and more useful.Referenced readingBoston Globe: “Poor Clare nuns are ‘in a state of crisis’ as Boston holds up housing plan for years.”Boston Globe: “This former JP monastery is a case study in why Boston is short on housing.”The Atlantic: “Community Input Is Bad, Actually,” by Jerusalem Demsas.Background on Neighborhood Defenders by Katherine Levine Einstein, David M. Glick, and Maxwell Palmer.Veronica Davis, Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit plentyofroom.substack.com