Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Wednesday that she wants to put the city on track to reach its former population peak while guarding against trends that are already putting pressure on residents due to rising housing costs. .
Wu, who in 2021 became Boston’s first female and first Asian-American mayor elected, said she hopes to manage the city’s increasing growth while avoiding some of the urban renewal efforts of the last century that ended up displacing thousands of workers. , immigrants, and black and brown residents.
“Our vision is for Boston to sustainably reach our peak population of 800,000 residents with homes and schools, parks and public transportation to support that growth,” the Democrat said in her State of the City address, referring to the all-time peak population. of the city around 1950, when the number of residents exceeded 801,000.
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Data from the 2020 census puts the city’s population at around 675,000.
The city has been experiencing a boom in recent years with new construction, including housing being built at a speed not seen in generations.
Wu said not everyone in the city has benefited from the growth and that failing to plan for community stability meant that even as the city’s population grew, many were forced out.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks during an Election Night party on November 8, 2022, in Boston. On January 25, 2023, Wu said that she wants to continue the trend of population growth in the city as she combats rising housing costs.
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
Wu said he will file a self-government petition next week to formally end the decades-long urban renewal mission of eradicating so-called “urban blight” that has ended up ravaging some neighborhoods in the city, and instead rededicate resources to the present city of Boston. needs including resilience, affordability and equity.
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Wu said he also plans in the coming weeks to file another autonomy petition that he said would help stabilize rents, end rent increases and protect families from eviction and displacement.
It’s an effort by Wu to partly fulfill a campaign promise to revive some form of rent control in the city. Rent control was banned statewide by Massachusetts voters in 1994.
It is also looking to start building more affordable housing in city-owned buildings and vacant lots scattered throughout the city.
To help address the threat of climate change, Wu said he will sign an executive order requiring all new construction in the city and major renovations to schools, municipal buildings and public housing to be completely free of fossil fuels.
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By 2030, he said, Boston will end the use of fossil fuels in the city’s public housing developments.
Wu also said the city is excited that the Lego Group is building its North American headquarters in Boston this fall.
