Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced a $67 million plan that goes toward affordable housing in eight different neighborhoods of Boston on Feb. 16, 2023.

The announcement comes four months after Boston was named the second most expensive city in the United States, only outranked by New York City. 

Wu’s plan will create 802 income-restricted units in total. Of the 802, 160 units will be senior housing only. Along with this, a performance space will be built onto the Blessed Sacrament Church in Jamaica Plain, along with 65 apartments.

At the press conference, District Six City Counselor and Chair of the Housing Committee Kendra Lara expressed her hopes for the project. 

“This is getting us one step closer to really building a city of Boston that is for all of us, and it won’t be the last time that we’re going to be celebrating more affordable housing, more creative performance space, and more creative solutions to the housing crisis that we see ourselves in today,” she says. 

In the Mission Hill area, where many off-campus students reside, a 12-story development is planned, with 81 income-restricted units available. Of the 81 units, 57 will be for rent. Rent in the Mission Hill area for a two-bedroom apartment currently could run anywhere from $2,000 to over $5,000. 

Lauren Francesconi, a junior transfer student living off-campus, says, “once you found something that fit your budget you had to put in the application immediately otherwise it was gone so fast. It’s hard to find affordable housing in this city, especially walking or close to school… Finding a roommate as a transfer was next to impossible which also makes it hard financially.”

This announcement also comes at a time when the REEF Center reports an “unprecedented uptick” in students seeking assistance in finding off-campus housing in the area, according to Tanner Hammond, a Social Work intern within the REEF Center. With rent in Boston at an all-time high, the REEF Center aims to support students through a variety of processes in the housing market. 

Hammond says that “We’re here to help students navigate that, whether it’s helping them think about strategies to find affordable housing or strategies for finding roommates…We’re here to provide education but also emotional support, because it’s a very trying experience.”

Mayor Wu’s attempts to make Boston more affordable are only beginning with these projects. At the beginning of March, she also unveiled a rent stabilization plan, aiming to cap rent increases around the city at a maximum of 10%. 

“Affordable housing is the foundation that everything else needs to be built upon,” Wu says.