It’s not news that the expense of living in South Boston is unmanageable. Average rent is $3,000 per month. A home in Southie sells for around $790,000—a monthly payment of more than $3,600. That’s a difficult prospect even for a childless couple with no student debt, no medical bills, and no family care obligations.
I’m lucky to be here, raising a family with my wife. But I know the frustration of being dragged away from family and community by financial pressures beyond my control. If we’re serious about making room for working people in Boston, we should be considering how to tackle this problem at the root.
Transparency. We can’t address our cost of living crisis without more transparency in the housing market. Look through the Register of Deeds website; you’ll find that many home sales involve LLCs with anonymous owners. Has a home been bought for use as an Airbnb hotel? Is it the next target for redevelopment? It’s hard to know. This opacity hurts our communities. As your State Rep, I’ll work to pull back the curtain on LLCs operating in the housing market.
Taxation. In Southie, many senior homeowners are taxed as though they bought a $1 million house, when in many cases they bought it decades ago for much less. Seniors may defer their property tax payments until they sell their house or pass away. But family homes are the spine of our community in many ways, and a $100,000 tax bill built up over 20 years of retirement would force many families to sell. I would be heartbroken if I were the one to sell the family house we’ve been living in for nearly a century. If elected, I’ll push for realigning our tax code to give seniors a break.
Child care. Many young families in Southie are like my own: both parents work, but at least one child is too young for school. Anyone in this situation will tell you that finding safe, affordable day care is difficult. This is a serious problem. Lack of access to day care forces families from the community. Massachusetts currently provides limited child care subsidies for very low-income families. I want to see a study to assess the cost of expanding the number of people who are eligible for this existing program.
It’s up to us to decide whether people who don’t have a briefcase full of cash—in other words, most people—can live in Boston. As your State Rep, I’ll make sure they’re on the minds of every elected official and policymaker in the Commonwealth.
Matt Rusteika is a husband, father, 4th generation South Bostonian, and experienced policymaker running to represent South Boston and Dorchester on Beacon Hill. He holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Brown University and a Bachelor’s in English from Emerson College. He and his wife Katrina live on M Street with their son Simon and dog Watson.
