Massachusetts faces a growing affordable housing crisis. We can tout our great quality of life on index after index, but if people can't afford to live here, it doesn't mean much.

To rent the average 2-bedroom apartment in Massachusetts requires an income equal to $37.97 per hour. Home ownership has become increasingly out of reach, as the state’s median home price has passed $600,000.

The unaffordability of housing in Massachusetts isn't inevitable. It's a result of a long legacy of exclusionary zoning that has disproportionately harmed working-class and BIPOC residents.

The Yes in My Backyard Bill (H.1379) would require multifamily zoning and remove costly parking mandates around public transportation, encouraging dense, transit-oriented development that is good for climate and good for communities. It would also expedite the process of converting unused state-owned land into affordable housing or vacant commercial properties into multifamily housing, among many other steps.