Medford Recognized for Housing Leadership in Massachusetts

Medford was one of 43 communities recognized with a 2025 Housing Choice Community designation from the Healey-Driscoll state administration, announced Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. This designation gives the City access to exclusive state funding opportunities and technical assistance that support housing growth and local planning.  

“As cities and towns across the Commonwealth are facing housing shortages and increased costs, we are proud to be recognized as a leader in housing creation and policies in Medford,” said Mayor Lungo-Koehn. “This designation will allow us to continue our efforts to support housing initiatives through special funding and assistance from the state. It’s our goal to make housing options more abundant and affordable for our community and this grant will help us achieve that. Thank you to our Office of Planning, Development, and Sustainability for the hard work that went into this application.” 

The Housing Choice Initiative recognizes communities that are adopting policies that support increased housing production and lower costs. To qualify for the Housing Choice designation, municipalities must meet specific benchmarks for housing production over the past five years and demonstrate progress in implementing local policies and best practices. All designated Housing Choice Communities receive additional consideration, priority, and benefits from various programs offered through several state agencies in the Commonwealth. 

"I appreciate the many hours of hard work the staff put in to documenting our work that is required in order to receive this designation,” said Alicia Hunt, Director of Planning, Development and Sustainability. "Having this Housing Choice Designation will provide eligibility to many more state grants and funding sources that our new Housing Planner, Katherine Buckingham, will be able to access to increase housing options in the city of Medford."

From 2020 to 2024, Medford created 300 new housing units, a 1.16 percent increase. The City was first awarded this designation in 2018 before it was a five-year designation, earned it again for the 2020 to 2025 period, and now has been redesignated for the 2025 to 2030 period. 

To learn more about the Housing Choice Initiative, visit https://www.mass.gov/orgs/housing-choice-initiative.