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人生一定要有的八個朋友: 推手(Builder)、 支柱(Champion)、 同好(Collaborator)、 夥伴(Companion)、 中介(Connector)、 開心果(Energizer)、 開路者(Mind Opener)、 導師(Navigator)。 chutze@bostonorange.com ******************* All rights of articles and photos on this website are reserved.
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MAYOR WALSH ESTABLISHES HOUSING INNOVATION LAB AS PERMANENT OFFICE IN DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT
Housing Innovation Lab created to increase housing affordability by pioneering innovative housing models and systems
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BOSTON - Wednesday, July 19, 2017 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced the Housing Innovation Lab, which began as an Innovation Team within the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, will become a permanent office in the City's Department of Neighborhood Development (DND). The permanence of the lab will allow the team to build on the success of its first year in exploring ideas to bring down the cost to build, buy and own homes in the City of Boston.
"Boston is a city for everyone -- and to make sure everyone can afford to live in Boston, we need innovative solutions," said Mayor Walsh. "The Housing Innovation Lab has played an important role over the past year in testing new approaches to solve Boston's housing challenges, and I look forward to more creative initiatives that will help increase housing affordability and housing stability for Boston residents."
Mayor Walsh announced the creation of the Housing Innovation Lab in the fall of 2015.
"Over the last year we have worked with residents, community organizations, universities and developers to generate and test creative solutions to the city's housing needs," said Marcy Ostberg, Director of the Housing Innovation Lab. "We recognize that we have only scratched the surface and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue this important work."
During its first year, the team engaged with housing experts and Boston residents to gather and generate potential ideas to address the problem of high cost housing in Boston. They have taken on initiatives related to density, compact living, alternative housing models and homebuying. Some initiatives include experiential engagements such as the Urban Housing Unit, an idea generating design and build competition, and piloting new zoning tools like the density bonus. The permanence of the lab will allow the team to take what was learned from these pilot initiatives to scale and tackle other drivers of housing costs that have yet to be addressed.
As outlined in the Mayor Walsh's Housing a Changing City: Boston 2030 plan, demographic projections show Boston's workforce growing by 26,600 households between 2010 and 2030-a nearly 13 percent increase over all. To meet this growing demand, the Department of Neighborhood Development and the Housing Innovation Lab will work more closely to examine how to best and most efficiently create the needed 20,000 workforce housing units by 2030.
The Lab was initially funded through an Innovation Team grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. There are nearly 20 "i-teams" across the world using Innovation Delivery practice to work with their mayors to tackle the city's most pressing challenges. The Bloomberg Philanthropies i-team will build upon lessons learned from the Housing Innovation Lab and pivot to Third Spaces, places located between "home" (our first space) and "work" (our second space) that contribute to Boston's collective well-being. Third Spaces include everything from parks to barbershops to places of faith, and are the places where we as Bostonians welcome, connect, and create with others.
To learn more about the Mayor's Housing Innovation Lab visit their website and follow them on Twitter.
About the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics
The Housing Innovation Lab began as a collaboration between the Department of Neighborhood Development and the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics. The Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics serves as Mayor Walsh's civic innovation group. Formed in 2010, New Urban Mechanics pilots experiments that offer the potential to significantly improve the quality of City services. To learn more about its work, follow the office on Twitter or visit its website.
About Bloomberg Philanthropies Innovation Teams
The City of Boston is one of 20 cities around the world participating in Bloomberg Philanthropies' Innovation Teams program. The program aims to improve the capacity of city halls to effectively design and implement new approaches that improve citizens' lives. Innovation teams function as in-house innovation consultants, moving from one mayoral priority to the next. Using Bloomberg Philanthropies' tested Innovation Delivery practice, i-teams help agency leaders and staff through a data-driven process to assess problems, generate responsive new interventions, develop partnerships, and deliver measurable results. For more information on Innovation Teams, please visit their website.
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波士頓台大校友會會長蕭蔚,住波士頓經文處處長夫婦賴銘琪,雲雯蓁(中)與部分出席校友合影。(波士頓台大校友會提供) |
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波士頓台大校友會會長蕭蔚報告會務。 |
MAYOR WALSH LAUNCHES NEW HOUSING POLICIES TO SUPPORT RESIDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
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BOSTON - Wednesday, July 19, 2017 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh, joined by members of the Mayor's Disability Housing Task Force, today announced new accessibility policies that will increase access to housing opportunities for people with disabilities in Boston. The Task Force spent 18 months outlining challenges and identifying ways to improve housing access, and these new policies are the direct result of that work.
The Task Force's work marks a key deliverable of Mayor Walsh's housing plan, which is committed to "acquire a better understanding of the needs of the disability community, and to establish both production targets and procedures to make it easier for people with disabilities to occupy accessible housing."
"When we talk about making our city a fair and equitable place to live, we need to make sure that we are inclusive of all Bostonians, including those with disabilities.," said Mayor Walsh. "I commend the members of this Task Force for their energy, passion, and willingness to have frank conversations with us about how we could do better. These new policies will go a long way in making Boston more accessible to all."
According to the most recent data from the American Community Survey, approximately 75,000 people - nearly 12 percent of Boston's population - have a disability of one type or another. Accessible housing is one of the most important needs of people with disabilities, especially Boston's 22,000 non-elderly persons with ambulatory disabilities, 9,800 non-elderly persons with visual disabilities, and 7,400 people with auditory disabilities.
"The housing crisis is very real for people with disabilities in Boston-- every day we work with people seeking those scarce units that are affordable and accessible," said Bill Henning, Director of the Boston Center for Independent Living. "We commend Mayor Walsh for supporting these initiatives as part of a needed, methodical effort to create more housing options for all in Boston."
To ensure greater equity and access to housing for people with disabilities, the Task Force outlined three key goals:
Achieving these goals will require significant collaboration across City agencies, including the Commission for Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Neighborhood Development, the Boston Planning & Development Agency, the City's Inspectional Services Department, the Department of Innovation and Technology, the Office of Housing Stability, and the Boston Home Center.
The new accessibility housing policies will be implemented in phases, starting immediately and continuing through the next year. The key initiatives of these policies are outlined below:
In addition, the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) will increase the number of accessible income-restricted units produced via the the Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP), requiring that in buildings already creating accessible units, 15 percent of the income-restricted units also be accessible.
The City will also create a loan fund to assist families developing Accessory Dwelling Units for use by a disabled family member in one of the three pilot neighborhoods planned for expedited zoning and permitting of these units.
The Boston Home Center will assess the feasibility of a loan program that provides gap funding for qualified owner-occupants of 1- to 4-family residential properties who do not qualify for the state's already extant HOME Modification Loan Program. This potential new loan product would aid homeowners in making accessibility improvements to their homes for themselves or their tenants.
Members of the Task Force include:
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麻州長查理貝克。(左二,州長辦公室提供) |