Boston Voted 69% Yes on a Housing Law That Won't Touch Boston. The Suburbs Get the Final Say
Question 7 sat at 50-50 at dawn. The city that wouldn't be covered backed it more than 2 to 1. That tells you everything about who's scared of a 5,000-square-foot lot.
By Dez Marlowe ·
At 4:58 a.m. Wednesday, Question 7 was sitting at 50.0 percent yes and 50.0 percent no with about 80 percent counted, per the AP-based tracker. At midnight it had been up 51.5 to 48.5, Boston.com reported. The late votes broke against it.
Here's the part I can't get over. Boston voted 119,998 to 53,286 for it, 69.25 percent yes, according to the city's unofficial results. And the law would let a single-family home go on a 5,000-square-foot lot with water and sewer, per the state voter guide, a rule aimed at places with much bigger lot minimums than Boston.
My opinion: when the people who wouldn't be affected say yes by 2 to 1 and the people who would be affected say no, that's not a debate about zoning. That's a debate about who gets to move in.
The city tally can't tell us which towns produced the no vote. The town-by-town count will.
What we still don't know: whether the last 20 percent saves it, and whether anybody calls a recount if it's this close.
Sources
Dez Marlowe is a Boston Uncut reporter covering Boston, Massachusetts, national and world news.