PARTNERSHP RESPONSES TO HOUSING:

• DEVELOPED THE HOME@LAST HOUSING AWARENESS CAMPAIGN with the Home Builders Association of Massachusetts and Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) to illuminate the importance of offering range of housing, and providing examples of less costly housing from across the region, using multimedia means, including the internet, posters, advertising, handouts, and a short video presentation.
• CONVENED FORUM ON HOUSING IN THE 495/METROWEST REGION: A DISCUSSION OF INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS to showcase innovative municipal policies and programs, to offer information on best practices and confront perception of regional inattention.  
•  RESIDENTIAL CHALLENGES IN THE ARC OF INNOVATION REGION  The Partnership sponsored the forum “Residential Development Challenges in the Arc of Innovation Region at Dean College in Franklin on May 17, 2006.  This event focused on the causes of high cost housing that have persistently plagued the Arc of Innovation region and much of the Commonwealth.  James Stergios, the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research Executive Director and Amy Dain, Project Manager for the Pioneer Institute’s Initiative on Local Housing Regulation presented the findings from the recently published report Regulation and the Rise of Housing Prices in Greater Boston.  The report, a joint publication of the Pioneer Institute and Harvard’s Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston examines the correlation between high housing costs in Greater Boston and stringent local land use regulations.  A four member comment panel followed Pioneer’s presentation. Panel participants included: Finley Perry, current President of the Home Builders Association of Massachusetts; Peter Lowitt, current President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Planning Association; Dan Morgado, Shrewsbury Town Manager; and Aaron Gornstein, Executive Director of the Citizen’s Housing and Planning Association.  For a copy of Pioneer’s presentation click here.  For a copy of Dan Morgado’s response click here.     
• DEVELOPING ‘HOUSING RESOURCE GUIDE’ to focus on municipal best practices on housing issues and provide a comprehensive inventory of housing organizations in the region.
•  PROVIDING INPUT TO LAND USE PLANNING IN THE DOLDRUMS: CASE STUDIES OF GROWTH MANAGEMENT IN THE I-495 REGION, a recent analysis of eight case studies of growth management done by the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.