I am a rising senior at Newton North High School and have been advocating for affordable housing in Newton for the last two years. I moved to Newton in 2022, relocating from India due to my father’s change of job. I instantly fell in love with this beautiful city, rightly termed as the “Garden City.” Even before moving to Newton, we realized the scale of the housing crisis in this city. When in middle school, two of my best friends had to move to other more affordable cities since it was not possible for their families to manage the increasing rent. I started thinking seriously about the issue and decided to work toward making Newton more affordable in the future.

After some research, it was clear to me that there are multiple reasons behind the housing problem in Newton and, because of this, a comprehensive solution needs to be designed with multiple factors in mind. If one takes a cursory look, it becomes evident that the main problem is lack of sufficient dwelling units that are offered under the affordable housing scheme. Even though there are some limited numbers of units offered for rent and sale, the number of applicants far exceeds the supply. As a result, many people who work in various businesses and establishments in Newton commute daily from faraway places and cannot afford to stay here. As a city, we are failing to accommodate those people who essentially play a big role in keeping the city running.

Kaushiki Banerjee advocating for affordable housing access in Newton. (Courtesy of Banerjee)

 As a first step, I started talking to various people (Newton residents) about the need for affordable housing in Newton. I chose a mix of high school friends, church elders, neighbors and some business owners who agreed to talk. To my surprise, the initial response was not in favor of affordable housing as most individuals (85%) thought that affordable housing leads to congestion, traffic jams and, overall, a degraded living experience. However, over the next month, I talked to them individually and convinced most of them that creating affordable housing opportunities leads to a vibrant, diverse and self-reliant community. Since most people working in Newton will be able to live here, it will lead to less traffic in and out of the city. After a month, I again did the survey and found that now most people were in favor of affordable housing. Following are the results of the initial and follow-up survey. 

The results of Banerjee’s survey of friends, community members and local business owners, measuring attitudes toward affordable housing over time. Courtesy of Banerjee

After this initial success, I started campaigning for affordable housing at community events. I talked 1:1, as well, to groups of people. Over the last 2+ years, I campaigned at around 20 community events: Newtonville Village Day, Nonantum Village Day, Newton Highlands Village Day, India Day at the Hyde Playground, Boston Marathon, “La Festa Italiana” at Pellegrini Park, etc. My experience at these events has been very positive. People listened to my reasoning with open minds, and even when they disagreed, they did cordially, and often I was able to convince them. 

By and large, the topic of affordable housing is considered a field appropriate for adults. Although kids take part in many other movements like climate control, community cleanup, etc., they normally do not get involved in advocating for affordable housing. Partly the reason is the complexity of the subject. Affordability is somewhat linked to income of the family, policies of the federal government, state and town, etc., which are difficult to explain to children. So, I took a different approach and tried to explain the housing problem to kids in terms of availability of housing without going into the financial details. I interacted with many elementary school students and spread awareness among them. I hope that in future they will be advocates for affordable housing and work toward this cause.

I proposed a set of solutions to the housing problem in Newton in a project report along with my study and experience, and submitted it to the Department of Housing, City of Newton. It was appreciated by the authorities. Here are some of the proposals:

• An AI-assisted unified portal to search, select and apply for affordable housing based on a family’s need. One of the problems faced by people seeking affordable housing opportunities is that there are different platforms to look up policies, search, select and apply for housing and it is difficult for applicants to manage.
• A strategy to publicize the affordable housing policies and opportunities through a mix of online and offline media.
• Explore use of manufactured housing, which is more affordable compared to traditional housing.
• Change the limits based on the city’s high average income so that more people can access the benefits.

I have also planned a set of activities in the future to continue the campaign.

Kaushiki Banerjee
Senior, Newton North High School