The Tufts Daily - Monday, December 2, 2019

Page 1

Sociology lecturer Fahlberg discusses Brazil, police brutality see FEATURES / PAGE 3

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Jumbos start season undefeated

Editorial: Tufts should ring in the New Year with these 4 resolutions see OPINION / PAGE 6

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

INDEPENDENT

STUDENT

N E W S PA P E R

OF

TUFTS

UNIVERSITY

E S T. 1 9 8 0

T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXVIII, ISSUE 55

Monday, December 2, 2019

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

tuftsdaily.com

Citing surging housing costs, Somerville, state politicians advocate for rent control by Alexander Thompson News Editor

As politicians try to grapple with the ongoing housing crisis in the Boston area, some, including many from Somerville, are calling for the repeal of Massachusetts’ decades-old prohibition on rent control through a new bill, H.3924. The bill’s two sponsors are Reps. Mike Connolly, who represents East Somerville and Union Square, and Nika C. Elugardo, who represents Massachusetts’ 15th district. Mayor of Somerville Joe Curtatone was the commonwealth’s first mayor to back the bill, and Somerville City Councilors J.T. Scott and Ben Ewen-Campen have declared their support. At an Oct. 29 rally in support of the bill, Connolly, Elugardo and Curtatone all voiced their support for the bill as residents took the stage to explain how price increases have affected them. Ruby Sosa, a great-grandmother on a fixed income, spoke at the rally as someone

who has experienced a sudden rise in rents. Earlier this year, a real estate investment company bought her building, she says, raising rents far past what many residents could afford. “I can’t afford to pay you $700,” Sosa told her landlord. “I’m on a fixed income, where am I going to get $700 from?” Supporters of the bill, like those from Somerville, say that rent control is the only way to curb the region’s surging rents and help tenants like Sosa, but economists and property owners warn that rent control could worsen the region’s housing crisis. According to Rent Jungle, a rental listing search engine, and Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, average monthly rent for all apartments in Boston has risen 12.5% over inflation since 2011. In Somerville, the increase has been steeper still with rents rising 28.76% over inflation. Two-thirds of Somerville residents are renters, the median of whom spend 26% of their income on rent, according to a WBGH

analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The analysis also found that rent burden falls heaviest on low-income tenants. The housing crunch is largely due to metro Boston’s booming economy. Since 2008, the region has added 2.5 jobs for every new unit of housing, the Boston Globe reported this summer. The supply shortage is especially acute near Tufts, where the lack of on-campus student housing has students competing with residents. A February Daily survey found the average student paying just under $900 per month for rent, utilities and WiFi, even while splitting the bill with roommates. Advocates say rent control and Connolly’s bill would help local lawmakers get a hold of the crisis by allowing them to cap annual rent hikes and take pressure off tenants. The bill, H.3924, would repeal the statewide prohibition on rent control passed by a razor-thin margin by Massachusetts voters in a 1994 referendum. However, by 1994, only three municipalities in the

entire commonwealth still had rent control: Boston, Brookline and Cambridge. Voters in those cities all rejected the prohibition. Connolly is adamant that his bill would not automatically reinstitute rent control, it would simply give local communities the option. He also stresses that this is just one component of a larger package of housing measures the commonwealth needs to implement, from building more units to granting more rights to tenants. Somerville leaders are ready to move forward on rent control if the legislature gives them the chance. At the rally, Curtatone said he would propose a rent control policy that goes after price- gouging property owners. To do that, he wants to cap annual rent increases just above inflation. He added that he would simultaneously continue working on expanding the city’s housing stock to solve the root causes of the problem.

see RENT, page 2

Red Line shuttle buses cause delays, confusion for students by Stephanie Rifkin Staff Writer

The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) began weekend repairs on the Red Line starting on Nov. 15, forcing riders to instead ride shuttle buses between Kendall/ MIT and Broadway stations. The weekend closure means the five stations between Kendall/MIT and Broadway, including ones frequented by traveling Tufts students such as Park Street and South Station, will not see weekend operation until the week after Dec. 15. In a press release, the MBTA said that the repairs focus on “station improvements and track replacements at Park Street and Downtown Crossing Stations. The MBTA will replace and add new signage, clean, paint, and repair stairs/tile within the stations.” According to the release, the MBTA will work to replace around 1,800 feet of track at both Park Street and Downtown Crossing. The press release says that, as a result of these closures, the repairs to Park Street will take place four months earlier than previously planned, while Downtown Crossing repairs happen a year earlier. “The broad limits between Broadway and Kendall/MIT are necessary as these areas are ‘portal’ access points for work crews to

Please recycle this newspaper

Rain and snow 39 / 29

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load in construction equipment and materials into the underground portions of the Red Line. The broad closure limits also give the MBTA a valuable work window to perform work that would otherwise require additional service shutdowns,” the release said. While these repairs are taking place, students have found it difficult to maneuver around the shuttle bus service. Isabella Getgey takes the Red Line every Sunday to work at the SMFA. “With the new shuttle buses at Kendall station, it was really inconvenient. As soon as I walked out of the station, I was confused on where to go, and then I was on the bus for a really long time. I had to add like an extra 30 minutes to my commute, which means I got to work late,” Getgey, a sophomore, said. Getgey emphasized that she found the new repairs to lead to confusion. “On my way back from work, I was trying to get on the shuttles at the Downtown Crossing station. Downtown Crossing is already in a pretty confusing place, and I had to walk five blocks to go find the shuttles from this station. By then it was nighttime, it was in the cold and I was alone,” she said. see MBTA, page 2

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Several passengers pass through the ticketing station in Davis Square Station on March 15, 2017.

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NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................3 ARTS & LIVING.......................4

FUN & GAMES.........................5 OPINION.....................................6 SPORTS............................ BACK


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