In an unusual move by a Roman Catholic leader, Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law has called on city leaders and private developers to construct thousands more housing units in the Boston area - saying there is a "moral imperative" to relieve the housing shortage in the community.

Law says 15,000 new affordable housing units are needed within the next five years to fill a critical shortage of housing for low income residents. He complained the hot housing market and its roaring prices increasingly are pricing low-income Bostonians out of the market.

"The issue of the moment is housing affordability," Law said. "It is both an economic growth issue for the business community, and a serious moral crisis for those of us concerned about families and the destructive division of society into rich and poor."

Law's remarks were made in conjunction with release of study suggesting as many 36,000 new dwellings were needed in Boston by 2005.

Funded by FleetBoston Financial and conducted by the Center for Urban Regional Policy at Northeastern University, the report was produced in response to the Archbishop's request for a reliable way to quantify the housing problem in Greater Boston and proposed strategies for overcoming the barriers to housing affordability.

The plan specifically calls for increased production of affordable housing by 36,000 units over the next five years including, 13,500 market rate units, 7,500 student dwellings and 15,000 affordable housing units.

The study, "A New Paradigm for Housing in Greater Boston," showed a growing divergence between area incomes and housing prices, and suggested the affordability gap posed a barrier to the future economic growth of the region if not corrected.

According to the report, Boston's all-time low vacancy rates (less than 1 percent for single family and 3.1 percent for renters) are "an ominous reflection of the fact that housing costs are rising 40 percent faster than family incomes."

Commenting on the study, Fleet's Gail Snowden sounded a pragmatic note, saying the housing shortage ultimately could strangle the region's economic prosperity.

"It is imperative that we work together to overcome this housing crisis because it is a problem that affects every member of our society," said Snowden. "We must rebuild a supply of housing that is affordable to households of all income levels.

"The problem becomes more pervasive when companies are unable to recruit workers due to high housing costs. We have a new paradigm for collective action. It is time to get to work."

Published: September 19, 2000

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.