Wu Wants Boston to Lead on MBTA, Infrastructure Funding

Affordable Housing, Downtowns Feature in Speech to Business Leaders

BOSTON, SEPT. 29, 2022…..While outlining her agenda for a “revitalized” Boston to hundreds of business leaders Thursday morning, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said “enough is enough” on Boston’s failing transportation infrastructure and crowded roads.

Michelle Wu

“As a mom, I tell my kids, whether it’s to get them to clean their rooms or finish their dinners properly, ‘What you don’t do now, you’re going to have to do later,’” Wu said. “I think with our transportation system, what we are experiencing now is what we didn’t do before. Those investments that were deferred, the maintenance that was delayed, that piles up and ends up costing a lot more for all of us.”

Following a month of major MBTA closures, and the likelihood of future shutdowns that transit officials say are inconvenient but necessary, Wu said she plans to have the city of Boston get more involved in securing funding for the state-run transit authority.

“It’s a little bit unusual that cities get involved, but this will be generational. These infrastructure changes are needed immediately,” she said.

The city threw its weight behind a proposed Allston megaproject alongside the state, jointly applying for nearly $1.2 billion in federal grants under a new federal infrastructure law that would go toward a massive roadway, rail and pedestrian overhaul of a narrow stretch near Boston University. Wu added that public transit improvement and better walkability will help take cars off the road to decrease the traffic congestion that chokes Boston roads.

On another hot-button issue, Wu promised that in the coming days, she will sign an executive order to accelerate the production of affordable housing.

“After reviewing the current process carefully, we have found that it takes an average of 11 months to get approvals for our affordable housing developments,” she said. “Our executive order will work to cut time in half and streamline the timeline on these projects.”

She also said the city will “put our money where our mouth is” and fund a full audit of the parcels of land that are publicly owned in Boston. That will look at how Boston officials can “unlock potential with full control over the approvals process of our own property,” Wu said.

As a co-chair of the Metro Mayor’s Housing Task Force, Wu said she and other Greater Boston mayors are coordinating to develop types of housing for people of different income levels and to create family housing, affordable housing and homeownership opportunities.

Only a few days after Wu proposed sweeping changes to the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals, she advocated Thursday for updates to the zoning code to make it “far less cumbersome.” Appealing to the business leaders to whom she spoke, she said, “That is what we all share as an end goal.”

The third point of Wu’s speech Thursday was on downtown revitalization in the era of partly or fully empty office buildings.

The COVID economy is down 24 percent from pre-pandemic levels in industries like retail tourism and hospitality, Wu said. Office occupancy levels are still only around 30 percent in the city’s core because so many people are working remotely or on a hybrid schedule, and one of every two downtown workers has a job that can be done remotely

“Many of these changes are here to stay,” she said. “And while they’ll require us to adapt once again, they’ll present an enormous opportunity for us to reimagine the role of this beautiful part of our city, to think of downtown as a space where people from all over come, and feel ownership, and see their communities reflected in the vibrancy and vitality of our city.”

Wu’s office is scheduled to unveil a report by the Boston Consulting Group in the coming weeks laying out the city’s vision for the future of downtown. Some of the key points will include converting unused office space to new housing, investing millions of dollars into cultural programs and investing in diverse businesses.

“The future is one where our downtown is an inclusive, round the clock neighborhood filled with new homes, diverse businesses, world class public spaces, vibrant nightlife and thriving arts and culture,” she said.