MHP Report Finds Housing Production is Key to Metro Area Growth - December 30, 2008

BOSTON, Dec. 30, 2008 --- A new report released by MHP finds that the three most important factors in determining metro area employment growth are how much housing the region builds, its success in attracting new residents, and the extent to which it is dependent on manufacturing employment.

“This report is helpful in understanding why some cities grow more than others and it could serve as a useful guide for policy and business leaders as they figure out how to grow the Massachusetts economy,” said Clark Ziegler, the MHP’s executive director.

Entitled “Recipe for Growth”, the report analyzed job growth in over 200 metropolitan areas from 2000-2006 to determine why greater Boston and Massachusetts lagged behind the rest of the nation in job growth. The report found that Massachusetts could have added thousands of more jobs during the first part of this decade if its restrictive zoning practices had not sharply limited housing construction in the 1990s.
For the Boston Globe's story on this report, click here.