We at Somerville YIMBY talk a lot about the need to supply more homes to solve our housing shortage. But supply is only half the economic equation. We also need to ask ourselves where all this demand came from. Why have we seen such large increases in the cost of housing while similarly old and dense rust belt cities have stagnated? 

Hi, all! Over the past two years, we have been working on an upzoning proposal for Somerville. With an new city council in 2026, it feels like a good time to move forward on it. In support of that effort, we hereby start a roughly weekly blog post series about upzoning in Somerville. We plan to cover a range of topics -- from open space to housing demand to affordability.

Get Involved: Join a Working Group Would you like to be more involved with Somerville YIMBY, but aren’t quite sure where to start? Join one of our new working groups to discuss: Elections: How did we do in the 2025 election? What could we do better? Is our next election effort going to be in 2026 or 2027? Join the elections discussion on our messageboard…

Cambridge City Councillor Burhan Azeem, Abundant Housing Massachusetts, and the Legalize Starter Homes Ballot Campaign are organizing a coordinated Day of Action to rally support for legalizing…

Congratulations to mayor-elect Jake Wilson, and to new and returning members of the city council. While we did not endorse Jake Wilson for mayor due to his restrained support for our zoning proposals, we look forward to collaborating with him and supporting his efforts to advance shared goals like housing affordability, safe streets, and more. We’re thrilled to see our endorsed City Council candidates Ben Ewen-Campen, Emily Hardt, Jon Link, Will Mbah, Naima Sait, and Ben Wheeler take their seats in January.

The big news on the election front is that Sen. Ed Markey has endorsed Willie Burnley Jr. — and early voting is on now! Be sure to vote this week or next Tuesday. Check hours and locations at somervillema.gov/elections. Canvassing with Jon Link (left) and Ben Wheeler (2nd from left) We hope you’ll join us for the last few days of the campaign season to help get out the vote for:

Canvassing with Jon Link (left) and Ben Wheeler (2nd from left) We’ve been out canvassing and we hope you’ll join us for the last few days of the campaign season to help get out the vote for: Mayor: Willie Burnley, Jr. At-Large: Scott Istvan At-Large: Jon Link  At-Large: Will Mbah At-Large: Ben Wheeler  Ward 5: Naima Sait Ward 7: Emily Hardt…

This weekend we’ll be out canvassing with Jon Link and Ben Wheeler. We hope you’ll join us! Canvassing with Willie Burnley, Jr. Canvass with Jon Canvass with Ben We also encourage you to help our other endorsed candidates with time and/or money if you can: Willie Burnley, Jr. Scott Istvan Will Mbah Emily Hardt Naima Sait Davis Square Development Discussion on 10/13…

We’ve got dueling events on Wednesday October 8, and we hope to see you at one of them! Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability Please join A Better Cambridge and Somerville YIMBY on October 8 for a panel discussion on Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability From National to Local. This will be primarily an in-person event but a livestream will be available.

Please join A Better Cambridge and Somerville YIMBY on October 8 for a panel discussion on Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability From National to Local. Speakers include: John Infranca of Suffolk Law and Jake Gilbert of the National Zoning Atlas, who worked on the Massachusetts Zoning Atlas and will share their findings on zoning in Massachusetts including how little land in MA is zoned to allow multifamily homes. 

Do you like talking with people? Even if you don’t, would you be willing to have a few short conversations anyway? Somerville YIMBY is knocking on doors and making calls for our endorsed candidates, and we need your help. Wear your Somerville YIMBY shirt if you’ve got one, and join us for canvassing for: Willie Burnley, Jr. Scott Istvan Ben Wheeler…

We want to celebrate that Somerville Community Land Trust and Just A Start have successfully acquired 297 Medford St! The two organizations are planning to build a 100% income-restricted, Affordable Housing project. From their newsletter: This milestone marks an important step in promoting permanently affordable housing, neighborhood stability and community ownership in the Gilman Square neighborhood. Together, we are laying the groundwork for a future that protects Somerville residents from speculation so that all of our neighbors can call Somerville home.

The Somerville preliminary election is today, September 16. Elections like this have low turnout, so your vote is especially important. The next few years will be very important for the city’s overall direction and growth, so please be sure to show up and vote for: Mayor: Willie Burnley, Jr. Councilor at Large: Scott Istvan, Ben Wheeler, Jon Link, and Will Mbah…

You’re invited to a special house party fundraiser in support of the Abundant Housing MA Independent Expenditure PAC (AHMA IEPAC), hosted by Ben Orenstein at his home in Somerville. We’ll be joined…

Somerville needs more housing and more staff with living wages. Willie Burnley, Jr. is the best choice for mayor to solve these problems. In the Somerville YIMBY survey this summer, we asked candidates: “Our neighbors in Cambridge have updated their zoning to allow residential buildings of up to 4 stories citywide — 6 if they include affordable housing at Somerville’s 20% level.

Hey folks! This Friday’s social, Sept 5, is canceled to avoid conflicting with the Mayoral Forum on Libraries and Schools:

For many months now, Somerville YIMBY has been working with city councilors and city staff on a broad proposal to update Somerville zoning citywide. This summer, residents have been especially keen to discuss upzoning, and some have suggested that Somerville should focus on allowing more height and development near transit. The thing is, when someone says “near transit,” we naturally want to ask them what counts as “near.” There is no universal definition of "transit oriented development" (TOD), but in terms of distance, most planners suggest a half mile from a transit station, and a whole mile is not unreasonable, especially given our…

Catie Gould and Kate Brunette Kreuzer discuss recent housing reforms in Washington State. They highlight significant achievements, including the passage of a major parking reform bill, transit-oriente...

Write to the Planning Board Last Thursday, the Planning Board reviewed a proposal to build a small apartment building at 675 Somerville Avenue. This modestly sized three-story building would be built and operated by a local family business. It’s replacing a gas station, so it displaces nobody and reduces Somerville’s overall carbon emissions and car dependency. Plus, people who live in this building would not get street parking permits, so they won’t even compete for street parking with existing neighbors.