In his annual breakfast address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh called on the city’s business and real estate communities to do their part to support a thriving local workforce by supporting Walsh’s agenda around housing, transportation and education.
Walsh touted his administration’s success in encouraging new construction, including new affordable housing units, and in implementing new measures to protect vulnerable renters from eviction.
But the mayor told business leaders that without more middle-income housing and better transportation the city will not be able to sustain the economic boom it’s seen in recent years.
“A city that can’t house its workforce is a city where employers lose talent,” Walsh said. “A state that can’t move its workforce is a state with an expiration date on its economic leadership.”
That line drew applause; less so, Walsh’s call for Chamber members to support Governor Charlie Baker’s push to change how Massachusetts towns and cities approve zoning that could allow greater density and more affordable housing.
The mayor’s call to support Baker’s legislation drew only a few muffled claps from the business-friendly audience.
Walsh did not offer details, in his speech or afterwards, on how he plans to create more middle-income housing, or what role he sees the city’s business community playing in achieving that goal; but Walsh says he will be meeting with
Walsh also called on Chamber members and guests to join him in pushing for better public transportation in and around Boston.
“As you know, Boston does not control the MBTA,” Walsh said.
But, Walsh said, Boston is the largest payer into the T’s system; and that makes for a bully pulpit Walsh uses frequently and, he said, businesses leaders should use too.
“We need your voices to communicate what’s at stake for your workers, your businesses,” Walsh said.
On the education front, Walsh said too many graduates of Boston Public Schools aren’t finding work in Boston’s largely booming jobs market.
Walsh wants business leaders to support the legislative effort underway on Beacon Hill to change the statewide school funding formula to provide more funds for districts like Boston’s, which teach disproportionately large numbers of English language learners and students experiencing homelessness or poverty.
Walsh, who leaves for Copenhagen Wednesday for the C40 Climate Summit, a gathering of the world's largest cities, also talked about his agenda of climate resiliency.
On Monday, Walsh announced plans to require all new city-constructed buildings to be “net zero” for carbon emissions.
Walsh didn’t directly address a recent report by City Councilor Michelle Wu calling for abolishing the Boston Planning and Redevelopment Agency, formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
But asked about the report (without direct reference to it or its author), Walsh defended his revamping the agency and giving it a more formal role as the city’s central planning agency.
The BPDA, Walsh said “has done an amazing job of reforming a system that was only working for a few. I would argue that today the BPDA is a system that’s working for everybody.”
