Helpful Studies and Links

Our page on Housing & Demographic Statistics for Reading 

Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s short video: Why MBTA Multifamily Zoning Makes Sense for Massachusetts

This informative video by City Beautiful explains many of the zoning concepts that are crucial to understand in relation to the law. 

Amy Dain’s five-part series in Commonwealth Magazine in 2022 gives the non-planner a good understanding of the MBTA Communities law and how it will impact local Massachusetts MBTA towns and cities:

The 2019 Report "The State of Zoning for Multi-Family Housing in Greater Boston" by Amy Dain is informative context on regional trends in zoning and housing. 

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) has an informative Regional Housing Page with information, toolkits, reports, and more.

The Citizens' Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) is a non-profit advocate for affordable housing in the region and they host events, programming, and housing opportunities and are an educational resource.

The EOHLC released updated guidance on the law in August 2023.

Show All Answers

1. What is MBTA Communities?
2. What does this mean for Reading specifically?
3. How did the state calculate our requirements?
4. Do we currently comply with the law?
5. Why should we comply?
6. What is the timeline for compliance?
7. Where are we in the process?
8. What do we know right now about our path forward?
9. What happens after the new zoning is adopted by Town Meeting?
10. General Zoning Considerations & Definitions
11. Helpful Studies and Links
12. Local Data, Resources, and Documents