Opinion letter: The scarcity and cost of housing helped turn Fall River, a blue city, red

The following is an opinion letter submitted to Fall River Reporter and was not written by us.

Fall River turned red in the last election, shocking Democrats and launching a search to find what had changed in the once deep blue city. The primary answer came quickly from the people of Fall River themselves in interview after interview: We are angry and frustrated that we cannot keep up with the cost of living, especially the cost of housing in our city.

The numbers back them up: In a city with one of the lowest median household incomes in the state—$53,000—a dangerously low housing vacancy rate of 1.2% has driven up rents dramatically. By some estimates rents for all units increased by 35% between 2017-2022. And rents for new private market leases have risen much more – from 68% to 88% between 2017 and 2024 – according to federal Housing and Urban Development estimates. A recent apartment listing shows an average rent of $2,044 for a two-bedroom apartment in Fall River.

MassINC’s recent comprehensive study of housing in the 26 Gateway Cities shows Fall River with the most severe housing shortage, almost the greatest shortage of housing affordable to the lowest income households, and the highest rate of no cause evictions.

According to an exhaustive new report from the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI), a lot of Fall River’s damage is self-inflicted. The city has overseen a shrinking supply of low-cost rental housing, failed to build or preserve affordable housing and left millions in housing aid unused on the table. Fall River has ignored the housing struggles of working-class residents (and voters) as it awards tax breaks for exclusively market rate and luxury housing rather than mixed income developments as suggested throughout the MassINC report.

Fall River is riding a wave of exciting changes including the long-awaited arrival of the South Coast Rail and a massive waterfront redevelopment. While working class and low-income residents welcome the city’s revitalization, they need more affordable rental housing and protection from rising rents, evictions and displacement. As the MassINC report urges: “. . . we must ensure that all residents can remain in these areas and benefit from new development.”

MLRI reviewed a wide range of public records to understand how and why affordable housing was dropped from the city’s priorities. It became clear from the numbers that while half of the city’s renters were struggling with housing costs, city leaders moved their focus toward a higher-income demographic, incentivizing and giving tax breaks to market rate and luxury projects for smaller households with disposable income at the cost of the affordable inventory. The number of homes that working class Fall River residents could comfortably rent shrank, and the affordable housing development pipeline went unfilled.

Some Fall River officials and leaders have argued that the city has enough—if not more than enough— affordable rental housing and doesn’t need anymore. The MLRI report uncovered a very different story—an increasing scarcity of rental housing within the means of local households. Unlike several other Gateway communities, Fall River has:

· Allowed decreases in affordable and public housing

· Prioritized upscale developments— adding more than 600 market rate and luxury units since 2017 and giving zoning approval to over 2,000 market rate units

· Developed almost no mixed income or affordable housing and very little for families with children

· Allocated none or only a small share of the millions of dollars available that could have been used to preserve and increase the supply of affordable housing: None of the $85.6 million in federal ARPA funds available to the city; None of the recent $14.9 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG); and only 5% of its $12.8 million in CPA funds through 2023 although a minimum of 10% is required.

No wonder Fall River voters are so angry.

While nobody begrudges Fall River adding market rate housing for higher-income residents, the city cannot continue supporting 100% higher priced projects that have no room for lower-income and working-class residents while turning away millions in resources that could help families rent homes within their means and remain in the city. The election results should be a wakeup call for Fall River to change course and consider recommendations such as those in the MLRI report to rebalance the city’s priorities and provide housing across a range of incomes.

Judith Liben is a housing attorney and Access to Justice Fellow at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.