Dukakis Pledges More Aid for Housing

As the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Michael S. Dukakis has some positive stories to tell from his years as Massachusetts governor, and one of them is about providing affordable housing.

That was the theme Tuesday as the governor returned from a four-day vacation and continued his effort to tell voters what he would do as President rather than counterattacking Vice President George Bush, the anticipated GOP nominee, who has been hitting Dukakis hard in recent weeks.

Speaking to the Massachusetts Housing Partnership Conference, a gathering of developers, community activists and representatives of the building trades, Dukakis noted that Massachusetts had become a leader in state efforts to provide affordable housing after the Reagan Administration greatly scaled back the federal role.

‘Piece of the American Dream’

“We’re all in this together,” Dukakis said, “because we understand that one essential piece of the American dream is a decent and affordable house or apartment for every single family or citizen in this nation.”

The approach used here under Dukakis has been to provide incentives for developers to build a certain percentage of low- and moderate-income housing and to help young couples buy first homes.

The state has succeeded in putting some of this housing into middle-class neighborhoods that are now more receptive to the idea because it brings in workers who in recent years have not been able to afford a place to live in many Boston communities.

The state has also built units that blend in with single-family homes and avoid the stigmatized high-rise projects that were a hallmark of earlier federal programs.

‘Can Bring People Together’

“We have demonstrated how you can bring people together in mixed-income communities, and it works, it works,” Dukakis said.

What he would do as President, he said, is increase federal aid for programs in states that try the Massachusetts approach to providing affordable housing.

Dukakis was customarily vague on how he would pay for such federal assistance but he indicated that some of the money would come out of the military budget.

He recalled Soviet dissident Yelena Bonner’s comment when she visited New England a few years ago: “Americans do not want war, they want a house.”

Dukakis said: “It’s something to think about--the contrast between our ability to take our resources and make them work for people and the billions we are spending on the military, billions which I hope we can begin to move in the direction of the kinds of investments in the kinds of communities we want for ourselves . . . all across the country.”

Visits Housing Project

Later, in the Dorchester neighborhood, Dukakis visited one of the first public housing projects developed in his governorship and was praised by a working couple with three children who said they could not have bought their first home without a state-backed low-interest loan.

Dukakis was joined there by several congressmen and by California Sen. Alan Cranston, who is the author of proposed $3-billion legislation that would complement Dukakis’ plans.

Today, Dukakis will meet with a number of Democratic senators in Washington, some of whom he is considering as his running mate.

He offered no clues on that front, however, saying: “There’s only one guy who knows what’s going on . . . in terms of that choice . . . and that’s the guy you’re looking at.”