The rent is too high.
Let’s bring it down.

People who grew up in our community keep getting pushed out. For young families, it feels impossible to plan for a future here in Massachusetts. None of this is set in stone. I’m running so everyone who wants to build their future here can find a place they can afford.

Read the Plan Check the Facts

Read Neil in Cambridge Day: How to get affordable housing built in Cambridge and Massachusetts ›

Why I’m Running

We need progress now

With every neighbor we lose, our church choirs and Porchfest sets get a little quieter, and a neighborhood without all those voices just doesn’t sound right.

Cambridge and Somerville have started to make progress tackling our housing shortage. More than 1,000 new affordable homes are going up across Cambridge, and last year we overturned exclusionary zoning rules after more than a century on the books. I’ve been a housing advocate here in Cambridge since 2020, and I’m proud to have been at the front of the campaigns to update our old laws and fund affordable housing.

But the rest of Massachusetts needs to do its part. We’re behind other states in New England, and blue states around the country, on legalizing and funding housing. For building homes, Massachusetts ranks sixth-worst in the country. Year after year, nearly every other state builds more than we do. We need this to change now.

Neil Miller talking with neighbors at a neighborhood park — Talking housing with neighbors, one conversation at a time.

The Plan

Here’s how we get it done

End exclusionary zoning statewide

Legalize mid-size apartment buildings in residential neighborhoods across the Commonwealth.

The model: Maine legalized three or four units on any property where residential use is allowed. Vermont did the same in areas with water and sewer service.

Fund affordable housing

Support public and non-profit providers, and fund below-market homes instead of counting on developers to fill the gap.

The model: Oregon and Washington have successfully funded their inclusionary zoning programs, delivering below-market homes in privately built projects.

Lift parking mandates statewide

Off-street parking requirements often far exceed demand. One study found 30% of spaces in new apartment buildings sat empty overnight.

The model: Connecticut got rid of parking mandates across much of the state last year.

Neil Miller listening to a constituent at a community center

I’ve done this before. I’ll do it on Beacon Hill.

That’s where my experience as a housing advocate is helpful. Our district is just 15 minutes from Beacon Hill on the red and green lines. I’ll take my colleagues to Central, East Cambridge, and East Somerville to show them the great new homes we’re building, and talk through the politics and policy of how it got done.

For legislators worried about the state’s finances and property taxes bumping up against Proposition 2½, I’ll make the case that housing development is fiscally positive. Of course, a lot of reps will have the same apprehensions about zoning reform as many neighbors in Cambridge, around parking, green space, or affordability. I’ve spent hours chatting with these neighbors, listening genuinely to their concerns, and sharing my perspective and our generation’s experiences with the housing shortage. I won’t convince everyone. But I’ve seen again and again that one good conversation truly can persuade folks that changes they’re uncomfortable with are worth making.

Talk Is Cheap.
Rent Isn’t.

Beacon Hill has tried to act on housing. But a willingness to spend money and political capital hasn’t delivered the results we need. Being a progressive means I actually want to make progress.

Neil Miller at an MBTA Orange Line station

The MBTA Communities Act seems like it was designed to generate a backlash, with every zoning change requiring approval by a bunch of unhappy town meeting voters packed into school gyms in 170 towns.
The Housing Bond Bill authorized $5.16 billion over five years, proving we’re willing to spend, yet too few homes are actually moving forward.
For the thousands of families being pushed out by crushing costs, progress can’t come soon enough. On Beacon Hill, I’ll push to end exclusionary zoning statewide and clear the barriers that keep us from building while keeping our communities affordable for the people who helped build them.

Rep. Mike Connolly’s Record

GBH News headline: Mike Connolly: Building More Multifamily Homes Doesn't Mean They'll Be More Affordable

My opponent, Rep. Mike Connolly, says he’s a leader on housing policy. But with an inconsistent record of supporting new homes, in his district and across the state, it’s no wonder the State House’s pro-housing laws aren’t working like we need.

Ironically, Connolly opposed the apartment building my wife and I now live in – the biggest addition of affordable housing in our neighborhood in decades (see p. 33 here).
He spoke out against a change that made it easier for exclusionary suburbs to update their zoning, and which enabled Cambridge’s 100% Affordable Housing Overlay.
Opposed redevelopment in East Cambridge that’s delivered 48 new affordable homes, plus $15 million in funding for more affordable housing, with no viable alternative.
He voted against funding for new housing in working-class cities across the state, even as he supported an $18 million tax incentive for a biotech company to relocate from Andover to Somerville.
After 10 years in office, pushing for social housing, with NO money budgeted and NO buildings moving forward, Rep. Connolly has nothing to show for his efforts other than a task force.