Apartment Look

The Bay State’s booming economy is bringing with it a downside for those looking to rent an apartment or buy a home in the state: soaring housing costs , particularly in Greater Boston. The problem isn’t new, but it’s more acute in places where the economy has taken off, spurred by a surge in the life sciences sector and the arrival of top companies like General Electric. That upward pressure is one reason why Beacon Hill leaders are continuing to look for ways to create new affordable housing units while preserving existing units . Gov. Charlie Baker this week announced $72 million in housing subsidy funds and additional state and federal tax credits to 25 projects across the state. The goal is to help create, refurbish and preserve 1, 970 housing units , including units reserved for low- income families and families making their way out of homelessness. “Safe and affordable housing is a cornerstone to the success of our commonwealth’s families, including access to job opportu...

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ booming economy is bringing with it a downside for those looking to rent an apartment or buy a home in the state: soaring housing costs , particularly in the greater Boston area . The problem isn’t new, but it’s more acute in places where the economy has taken off, spurred by a surge in the life sciences sector and the arrival of top companies like General Electric to the state. That upward pressure is one reason why Beacon Hill leaders are continuing to look for ways to create new affordable housing units while preserving existing units . Gov. Charlie Baker this week announced $72 million in housing subsidy funds and additional state and federal tax credits to 25 projects across the state. The goal is to help create, refurbish and preserve 1, 970 housing units , including units reserved for low- income families and families making their way out of homelessness. Advertisement “Safe and affordable housing is a cornerstone to the success of our commo...

When our children were 11 and 9, young enough to still be entirely inside the family circle but old enough to remember, we splurged on a “once in a lifetime vacation ” and rented a small farmhouse in Southwestern France outside the village of Saint-Cyprien. Each day, our son and daughter would say goodbye to the donkey that hung around our patio and we’d climb in the tiny rented Renault and drive somewhere in the fairy- tale beautiful Dordogne River region . On one of these excursions, we stumbled on the provincial city of Sarlat. An accident of history and several centuries of stagnant economy had left Sarlat’s center virtually unchanged architecturally since the days of siege engines and knights galloping over drawbridges. City fathers had wakened one morning in the late 1950s to realize that, leaning above narrow and winding cobblestone streets and alleys, they had one of the largest collections of intact medieval architecture in Europe. The French government subsidized restor...