The City of Watertown’s Draft 2026-2030 housing plan puts grim numbers on what we all see everyday. Over the last 5 years, the number of Watertown households that qualify for income-restricted Affordable housing has increased by 23 percent. Roughly 2 out every 5 Watertown households have an income low enough to qualify for Affordable Housing in Watertown, yet there isn’t nearly enough affordable housing for those who need it.
To be sure, many factors influence the cost of construction and the potential for affordable housing. Interest rates and federal trade policy play major roles, here and across the country. But we also have tools at our disposal here in Watertown. It’s time to take a hard look at the policies we do control — particularly our current zoning.
The reality is that in most places across the city, our zoning — the rules that dictate what can be built, where, and by what process — makes it impossibly difficult and expensive for new affordable housing projects to be built. In the few places where our zoning is more permissive, like in Watertown Square, along Arsenal Street, and along Pleasant Street, our policies force non-profit affordable housing developers to compete with well-funded national developers for scarce land. It is a rigged game they cannot hope to win. Because of that, Watertown residents lose.
To build more affordable housing, we need to change the rules of the game. We have the power to give affordable housing developers a leg up. The City has commissioned a study to develop incentives to make it easier to build affordable housing in town. That is only a first step.
The City Council has to turn the results of that study into an Affordable Housing Overlay ordinance and pass it into law.
An Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) adjusts the underlying regulations in a given neighborhood to make it easier, faster, and cheaper to build income-restricted affordable housing. These adjustments typically focus on height, density, parking, and process — areas where more restrictive zoning laws make building affordable housing impossible.
We’re calling on the City Council to adopt an ambitious, effective Affordable Housing Overlay for Watertown, so that new development in the city serves the needs of ALL residents.
To make sure this is the top priority of our local government, our councilors need to know that affordable housing is important to a broad coalition of residents. You have three ways to make your voice heard:
- Visit our website or stop by our Faire on the Square booth this Saturday to sign the HAW petition that tells the City Council to take action on affordable housing;
- As election season gets underway, make sure candidates know this is a top priority by asking, “Will you join me in supporting an Affordable Housing Overlay ordinance this upcoming term?”
- Advocate to the City Council directly by attending public meetings, writing emails, and making phone calls.
Let’s make sure that our working families, neighbors, and friends can afford to remain in the city we love. Join us in advocating for an Affordable Housing Overlay.
— The Housing for All Watertown Steering Committee
Rita Colafella, Sam Ghilardi, Dan Pritchard, Josh Rosmarin, and Jacky van Leeuwen
How does “roughly 2 out of five” households who would qualify for “affordable housing” compare with neighboring communities? Forty percent sounds like a lot. Also, I miss the logic in someone living in housing they cannot afford: surely, they can afford it if they chose to, however tight finances may be. We wouldn’t suggest anyone leave, but what do we “owe” them to stay? As I’ve written before (to previous iterations of this plea), Watertown has already “built up” a lot, and has the by-right authority to build up a lot more. As already one of the most densely populated cities in the state. If somehow we left a reasonable amount of affordable housing out of the equation, where was the Council? Where were you? Asking residents to make major changes in zoning regulations regarding “height, density, parking, and process”—on top of what they’ve already agreed to—is a big ask. We are a generous community, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for politely declining.
Right. If you can’t afford living in here, find a place where such would be feasible. Keep the zoning laws as they are, unless you want to see real estate values decline.
I saw the Manager on the Affordable Housing Trust talking about this and hypothetically speaking of developers coming into the cape cod style neighborhoods like mine and buying up say a few houses, tearing them down and building high-rises. How do you leave these thoughts out of your visions? 4 square miles is not going to solve your view of a housing crises fix. As stated by Josh, we”ve been very generous community in many ways and easy going, even going beyond 1701 the # you seem to forget. As to building without parking, you really haven’t been paying attention. It seems that there are more cars coming here and with reduced parking you now have a street parking crises, sure throw in all those cars without parking spaces from the MBTA plan onto City streets and please tell what your vision is going to look like. Some of us already know. Kindly give us the whole story not the parts you like.