Fear and loathing in Massachusetts : Chapter 40B, community opposition, and residential property value

This thesis asks and answers an important question in the heated debate concerning M.G.L.c. 40B, the state's Comprehensive Permit Law: "Do large-scale, high-density Chapter 40B multi- family rental developments negatively impact nearby single-family property values in suburban Boston communities?" We ask the question because of the widespread belief that one of the strongest motives for resident opposition to 40B projects is the fear that homes values surrounding these multi-family developments will decrease. In an effort to resolve the debate, we design a rigorous research methodology to examine the impact of introducing a large-scale multi-family rental development into a neighborhood of single-family homes. We develop strict case selection criteria that identify nine 40B developments located in eight suburban communities. These case studies represent some of the most egregious, controversial, and dense Chapter 40B developments in the Boston metropolitan area; in other words, a suburbanite's worst nightmare. After selecting the cases, we establish conservative impact areas, which include only the single-family homes mostly likely to be affected by each respective 40B development. Our process for identifying impact areas restricts the boundaries to essentially abutters and immediate neighbors of each of the nine developments. The purpose for carefully establishing such impact areas is to objectively measure single-family home price changes over time as 40B developments are announced, approved, constructed, occupied, and integrated into the resident communities.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Authors dc:creator

• Ritchay, David J. (David James), 1976-
• Weinrobe, Zoe R. 1977-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Langley C. Keyes and Henry R. Pollakowski.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17709

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/17709