What the MBTA Communities Law Is (and Isn’t) Delivering So Far

Five years after passage, the MBTA Communities law is finally producing what housing advocates asked for: real projects, real units, and real zoning changes. But new data from housing researcher Amy Dain of the Boston Indicators makes one thing clear, this reform is working exactly as designed: incrementally, unevenly, and at nowhere near the scale needed to solve Greater Boston’s housing crisis on its own.

That’s not failure... It’s a lesson.

First, the good news: housing is being built!

As of December 2025, there are:

• 102 multifamily projects

• across 34 MBTA Communities

• totaling just under 6,900 housing units that are directly tied to MBTA Communities zoning.

That’s not nothing. In fact, a lot of these projects probably would not exist without the law. And in a state where housing policy debates often produce more lawsuits than units, that alone is meaningful. But zoom out a bit and the scale becomes clearer. Even if every single one of these units gets built, they amount to less than 1% of the total housing stock in the 177 communities covered by the law.

Which brings us to the central theme of this report:this reform moved the needle... it did not bend the curve and more reforms are necessary to truly bend a housing curve broke for the better part of a half-century.

What’s Getting Built (and What Isn’t)

What’s being built tells an important story. Most of the projects enabled so far are small: two- and three-story apartment buildings, mixed-use buildings on main streets, and the kind of “missing middle” housing that used to be common in Massachusetts before zoning made it illegal. Nearly 80% of projects have fewer than 30 units.

At the same time, most of the actual housing units accounting for that 6,900 unit total come from a relatively small number of large developments. Fewer than 20 projects account for well over half of all the units in the pipeline (one project in Braintree accounts for 12% of all units and another in Weston is nearly 10%). Legalizing small multifamily unlocks steady, incremental growth, but if you want volume, you still need places where bigger projects are allowed and can actually pencil.

The “Transit-Oriented” Reality

Despite the law’s name, the transit story is more complicated than many people assume.

Only about 30% of the housing units in the pipeline are within a half-mile walk of a subway or commuter rail station. Much of the rest is near bus routes or in walkable town centers, which is not inherently bad. But it does mean the early results are less “apartments next to train stations” and more “modest infill in already-developed areas.”

The issue stems from our traditional land-use patterns... In numerous Eastern Massachusetts communities, areas around stations were politically off-limits because they were occupied by large lot single-family neighborhoods just a short distance from Commuter Rail and Rapid Transit stations. As a result, compliance was achieved in other locations. This compromise may have facilitated the implementation of the law, but it also diminishes some of its advantages related to climate and mobility.

Where the Law Is Working

One of the most important successes of the MBTA Communities law is the expansion of as-of-right multifamily zoning. For decades, Massachusetts has talked about reducing permitting risk and uncertainty; this law actually did it, at least in defined districts in some communities.

Developers respond to certainty more than anything else. Even modest density allowances can unlock projects when approvals are predictable. In places like Salem, Somerville, and Medford, MBTA Communities districts line up with walkable street patterns, smaller lots, and areas already primed for infill. The result isn’t explosive growth, but it is steady, realistic production.

The report also quietly confirms something housing advocates have long argued: missing-middle housing doesn’t need grand gestures to happen, it just needs to be legal again. Many of the projects in the pipeline look like the kind of buildings Massachusetts used to produce without controversy, triple deckers, duplexes and townhomes. They fit their neighborhoods, come online faster, and add housing options without dramatic change.

Where the Law Falls Short

Where the law struggles is also where Massachusetts housing policy always struggles: local implementation and a pervasive NIMBY attitude in many places.

Some communities embraced the spirit of the law and created districts where housing could actually happen. Others did the bare minimum... or worse... small overlays, limited parcels, and zoning that technically complies but doesn’t meaningfully change development economics. The data makes this painfully clear: a small number of cities & towns of the 177 are producing most of the housing, while many others are producing little or none.

Even in compliant districts, “as-of-right” doesn’t always mean what people think it does. Site plan review, design standards, and discretionary processes still introduce delay and risk. Zoning improved, but permitting uncertainty often remained. That’s one reason many projects stay small and why some never move beyond the drawing board.

The Big Lesson

"The MBTA Communities law’s method of setting mandatory performance benchmarks for local zoning accomplished more than recent state efforts to persuade or incentivize municipalities to undertake voluntary reform. But the MBTA Communities approach was a grueling, expensive, politically charged, half-decade effort that could not be easily ramped up or repeated iteratively to achieve the needed progress." - Amy Dain of Boston Indicators

Taken together, the lesson of the report is fairly straightforward. The MBTA Communities law did exactly what it was allowed to do. It legalized housing, reduced some risk, and produced measurable results. But modest reform produces modest housing. More units will surely result from this bills implementation and this should be celebrated and embraced as our region continues to struggle with the crushing impacts of housing scarcity on our populaiton, our communities and our economy. This law was never going to solve Greater Boston’s housing shortage on its own, and the data confirms that reality.

What Comes Next

The MBTA Communities law cracked the door open. The evidence is now unmistakable: when we legalize housing, housing gets built. The task ahead isn’t to debate whether this approach works, but to decide whether we’re willing to apply it at the scale the moment demands. If Massachusetts wants a future that’s affordable, inclusive, and supportive of actually growing this regions economic engine, the next step is clear, build on this law, strengthen it, and stop pretending that incremental reform can solve a structural shortage.