Statewide housing issues are causing conversations in cities across Massachusetts, including in Cambridge, where lawmakers are considering a change to residential zoning laws.
Cambridge Housing Committee members are discussing a plan to remove zoning requirements that only low-occupancy homes may be constructed in certain areas.
"There are some neighborhoods in Cambridge where it's actually illegal to build anything other than a single-family or a two-family," said Vice Mayor Marc McGovern. "What that creates is it creates neighborhoods that are more exclusive than others."
Many on the Cambridge City Council agree with the plan to create more housing, but believe using existing homes would be a quicker and more direct way to combat the issue.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
"By saying, 'Well, you can take existing homes and make them into multifamily homes, but you have to keep open space, you have keep the setbacks,' that then allays many people's concerns that this going to be a canyon of 20-story buildings," said City Councilor Patricia Nolan.
The issue still needs to go through multiple committees and public hearings before it can be brought to city council for a vote.
