The end of rent control three decades ago helped push many working people out of a Fenway apartment building and out of Boston. Their stories speak to one of the causes of the current housing crisis, and to the increasing demands that rent caps return.
Brookline broadcasts an ethos of inclusivity, but it has become a preserve for the privileged. This is no accident, but the fruit of decades of exclusionary actions. Now facing a state mandate to allow more multifamily housing, Brookline faces a choice: What kind of town does it want to be?