publicrecord.studioRecord of October 28, 2026 · pressed nightly · 64 meetings · 191.3 hours · no accounts · no trackingREAD · the record
The Public Record

What Boston and Brookline said in their own public meetings — searchable, quotable, and yours to retell.

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a word, over time — the record’s search for “housing”, told as a story

How Boston talks about housing

The first time anyone said “housing” on Boston’s record was July 8, 2026, 54:12 into a City Council meeting: “THROUGH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF HOUSING TO ACCEPT AND EXPAND PAYMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $30”. It peaked on September 29, 2026, when the City Council Committee said it 463 times over 3 h 36 min — 33% of every mention on the record. In all, 1413 mentions across 31 of Boston’s 44 meetings, by the City Council Committee, the City Council, the BPDA, the Zoning Board of Appeal and the Licensing Board; the words said beside it most: fair, affordable, office, boston. The latest was October 28, 2026: “SURPLUS REVENUE ON PROJECTS LIKE THE HOUSING ACCELERATOR FUND.”. Brookline’s bodies said it in 510 lines across 17 meetings — the whole record’s search reads them together.

counted from the transcripts themselves when this edition was pressed — every line that says “housing”, whole-word; no model wrote a line of it; every number opens the tape

“housing”, by the numbers
1413mentions31 of 44meetings5bodiesJuly 2026first saidOctober 2026latest7:02the supercut
when “housing” came up — each dot is a meeting; click one to jump
JulAugSepOctBoston City Council Meeting on July 8, 2026 — 35 linesCity CouncilJul 8Boston City Council Meeting on September 16, 2026 — 38 linesCity CouncilSep 16BPDA Board of Directors Meeting 9/17/26 — 26 linesBPDASep 17Education on September 17, 2026 — 165 linesGovernment Operations on September 17, 2026 — 3 linesCity Services on September 18, 2026 — 6 linesCity Services on September 21, 2026 — 10 linesZoning Board of Appeal Hearings 9/22/26 — 34 linesPILOT Agreements, Institutional and Intergovernmental Relations on September 22, 2026 — 5 linesBoston City Council Meeting on September 23, 2026 — 55 linesBoston Licensing Board Transactional Hearing 9/23/26 — 5 linesHuman Services on September 24, 2026 — 9 linesBoston Licensing Board Voting Hearing 9/24/26 — 1 lineCivil Rights, Racial Equity, and Immigrant Advancement on September 25, 2026 — 27 linesHousing and Community Development on September 29, 2026 — 456 linesCity Council CommitteeSep 29Boston City Council Meeting on September 30, 2026 — 40 linesCity CouncilSep 30Census, Redistricting, and Elections on October 2, 2026 — 1 lineZoning Board of Appeal Hearing 10-6-26 — 11 linesBoston City Council Meeting on October 7, 2026 — 9 linesEducation on October 13, 2026 — 1 lineCity Council CommitteeOct 13Civil Rights, Racial Equity, and Immigrant Advancement on October 14, 2026 — 9 linesLabor, Workforce & Economic Development on October 15, 2026 — 4 linesCity Council CommitteeOct 15BPDA Board of Directors Meeting 10-15-26 — 65 linesPlanning, Development and Transportation on October 16, 2026 — 24 linesPlanning, Development and Transportation on October 19, 2026 — 2 linesCommunity Preservation Act on October 20, 2026 — 258 linesBoston City Council Meeting on October 21, 2026 — 82 linesBoston Zoning Board of Appeal October 22, 2026 Subcommittee Hearing — 1 linePlanning, Development and Transportation on October 22, 2026 — 3 linesCity Services on October 23, 2026 — 14 linesGovernment Operations on October 28, 2026 — 1 line
mentions, month by month
35891487
the same, as a table
monthmeetingssaid itmentions
Jul 20261135
Aug 2026000
Sep 20262015891
Oct 20262315487

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September 2026 was the loudest month — 891 mentions in 15 of 20 meetings. A dot is a meeting: filled where the word came up, hollow where it did not. Every bar opens the tape at the month’s first mention.

where it fell — every night that said it, slice by slice
07-08 · City Council35 lines
09-16 · City Council38 lines
09-17 · BPDA26 lines
09-17 · City Council Committee165 lines
09-17 · City Council Committee3 lines
09-18 · City Council Committee6 lines
09-21 · City Council Committee10 lines
09-22 · Zoning Board of Appeal34 lines
09-22 · City Council Committee5 lines
09-23 · City Council55 lines
09-23 · Licensing Board5 lines
09-24 · City Council Committee9 lines
09-24 · Licensing Board1 line
09-25 · City Council Committee27 lines
09-29 · City Council Committee456 lines
09-30 · City Council40 lines
10-02 · City Council Committee1 line
10-06 · Zoning Board of Appeal11 lines
10-07 · City Council9 lines
10-13 · City Council Committee1 line
10-14 · City Council Committee9 lines
10-15 · City Council Committee4 lines
10-15 · BPDA65 lines
10-16 · City Council Committee24 lines
10-19 · City Council Committee2 lines
10-20 · City Council Committee258 lines
10-21 · City Council82 lines
10-22 · Zoning Board of Appeal1 line
10-22 · City Council Committee3 lines
10-23 · City Council Committee14 lines
10-28 · City Council Committee1 line
the same, as a table
meetingbodylinesfirst atlast at
2026-07-08City Council3554:122:17:21
2026-09-16City Council3845:514:28:20
2026-09-17BPDA2644:451:30:02
2026-09-17City Council Committee1653:222:58:16
2026-09-17City Council Committee327:4930:34
2026-09-18City Council Committee610:061:10:41
2026-09-21City Council Committee1013:321:10:57
2026-09-22Zoning Board of Appeal3418:103:51:04
2026-09-22City Council Committee528:181:07:25
2026-09-23City Council5510:004:15:22
2026-09-23Licensing Board511:5113:35
2026-09-24City Council Committee914:131:25:27
2026-09-24Licensing Board11:491:49
2026-09-25City Council Committee279:541:45:59
2026-09-29City Council Committee4561:273:37:43
2026-09-30City Council4055:462:23:50
2026-10-02City Council Committee11:16:311:16:31
2026-10-06Zoning Board of Appeal1110:042:07:03
2026-10-07City Council952:303:21:41
2026-10-13City Council Committee12:26:092:26:09
2026-10-14City Council Committee940:242:26:21
2026-10-15City Council Committee417:3920:59
2026-10-15BPDA6521:293:27:57
2026-10-16City Council Committee244:421:30:37
2026-10-19City Council Committee26:412:05:59
2026-10-20City Council Committee2582:033:13:29
2026-10-21City Council8252:033:07:23
2026-10-22Zoning Board of Appeal111:3411:34
2026-10-22City Council Committee31:18:591:19:14
2026-10-23City Council Committee143:532:32:54
2026-10-28City Council Committee11:56:391:56:39

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Each row is a tape, start to end; a taller bar is a slice where “housing” came up more. On September 29, 2026 the City Council Committee said it 463 times over 3 h 36 min — one stretch of the night. Every bar opens the tape there.

the words beside it — what was said in the same breath
fair291
affordable285
office134
boston117
city92
mayor's69
authority48
development45
people45
stability45
projects41
affirmatively40

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Counted in each line that says “housing” and the lines either side of it, civic stopwords out: “fair” led with 291 mentions. Each word opens the record’s search for the two together.

the first time it came up, each night
July 8, 2026 · City Council35 lines that night“THROUGH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF HOUSING TO ACCEPT AND EXPAND PAYMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $30”54:12 on the tape
September 16, 2026 · City Council38 lines that night“OF CHINATOWN ON THE SOUTH END AND THROUGH A PUBLIC HOUSING IN THE CITY OF BOSTON.”45:51 on the tape
September 17, 2026 · BPDA26 lines that night“displacement. We work to preserve um affordable public and private uh housing and make sure it stays affordable, to”44:45 on the tape
September 17, 2026 · City Council Committee165 lines that night“THINK IN THE SPRING OF 2026 CALLED SCHOOL HOUSING PARTNERSHIP ACHIEVEMENT AND”3:22 on the tape
September 17, 2026 · City Council Committee3 lines that night“HOSPITALS, UNIVERSITIES, AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROVIDERS, NONPROFITS, GOVERNMENT”27:49 on the tape
September 18, 2026 · City Council Committee6 lines that night“SOUTH END AS WELL PUBLIC. HOUSING I'M GOING TO STOP. THERE AND.”10:06 on the tape
September 21, 2026 · City Council Committee10 lines that night“LANGUAGE UM YOUTH PUBLIC HOUSING RESIDENTS SO ON SO ON. UM AND THAT'S BEEN ONE OF OUR”13:32 on the tape
September 22, 2026 · Zoning Board of Appeal34 lines that night“improvements, improved connectivity, but more importantly uh much needed housing. You can see the site in uh the red”18:10 on the tape
September 22, 2026 · City Council Committee5 lines that night“LOCATION IS GOING TO BE DEVELOPED INTO HOUSING. COULD YOU SPEAK TO US ABOUT THE”28:18 on the tape
September 23, 2026 · City Council55 lines that night“AFFECT ALL BOSTONIANS SUCH AS HOUSING COSTS, AFFORDABILITY AND ICE DISPROPORTIONATELY”10:00 on the tape
September 23, 2026 · Licensing Board5 lines that night“doing business as the Harvard University Housing and Real Estate Huhre located at 107 Avenue. Louis Pastor has applied for”11:51 on the tape
September 24, 2026 · City Council Committee9 lines that night“COMMUNITIES OF COLOR IN NEIGHBORS IN PUBLIC HOUSING TO BE HEARD AND RESPECTED ON THE”14:13 on the tape
September 24, 2026 · Licensing Board1 line that night“Harvard College, uh, doing business as Harvard University Housing and Real Estate, HURRE, located at 107 Avenue,”1:49 on the tape
September 25, 2026 · City Council Committee27 lines that night“BREADON CALLING A RESOLUTION TO STREAMLINE HOUSING ASSISTANCE FOR THOSE WHO ARE AFFECTED BY”9:54 on the tape
September 29, 2026 · City Council Committee456 lines that night“THE COMMITTEE EMAIL AT KCPT HOUSING@BOSTON.GOV AND WILL BE MADE A PART OF THE RECORD AND”1:27 on the tape
September 30, 2026 · City Council40 lines that night“OF BOSTON'S ASSESSMENT OF FAIR HOUSING. THE CHAIR RECOGNIZES THE CHAIR”55:46 on the tape
October 2, 2026 · City Council Committee1 line that night“IT COULD BE YOUR TRANSCRIPT OR ,UM, YOUR HOUSING ASSIGNMENT FOR YOUR CAMPUS.”1:16:31 on the tape
October 6, 2026 · Zoning Board of Appeal11 lines that night“residential all affordable housing so all of the units uh at least two buildings”10:04 on the tape
October 7, 2026 · City Council9 lines that night“TIMES. BECAUSE I'M HOUSING INSECURE. UM AND WE'RE SO MANY BARRIERS”52:30 on the tape
October 13, 2026 · City Council Committee1 line that night“OF UNEMPLOYMENT, CRIME, DRUG ABUSE AND LOW INCOME HOUSING? IF INSTEAD WE INVEST IN”2:26:09 on the tape
October 14, 2026 · City Council Committee9 lines that night“in Finway. all the money that they spend in the ink block in terms of housing and street development in growth wall in”40:24 on the tape
October 15, 2026 · City Council Committee4 lines that night“UH, THAT WOULD BE THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF HOUSING PUBLIC FACILITIES DEPARTMENT PARKS AND”17:39 on the tape
October 15, 2026 · BPDA65 lines that night“Roxbury Stonehouse. Um POA is a nonprofit housing developer affiliated with the arch dasis of Boston. And RSH”21:29 on the tape
October 16, 2026 · City Council Committee24 lines that night“CHALLENGES THAT REQUIRE US TO BUILD MORE HOUSING AND ADDRESS OUR AFFORDABILITY CRISIS,”4:42 on the tape
October 19, 2026 · City Council Committee2 lines that night“LIMITED SPACE AND CAPACITY FOR HOUSING BUT JOBS, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND OTHER USES THAT”6:41 on the tape
October 20, 2026 · City Council Committee258 lines that night“FUND DEDICATED TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING. THIS MATTER WAS SPONSORED BY”2:03 on the tape
October 21, 2026 · City Council82 lines that night“FUNDS DEDICATED TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING. THANK YOU.”52:03 on the tape
October 22, 2026 · Zoning Board of Appeal1 line that night“is intended to accommodate the family's housing needs while improving the functionality of the property and”11:34 on the tape
October 22, 2026 · City Council Committee3 lines that night“UM SO IN THINKING ABOUT SENIOR HOUSING ON COME ON CHESTNUT HILL WITH A CONCENTRATION”1:18:59 on the tape
October 23, 2026 · City Council Committee14 lines that night“OF MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTIONS AT THE BOSTON HOUSING AUTHORITY .”3:53 on the tape
October 28, 2026 · City Council Committee1 line that night“SURPLUS REVENUE ON PROJECTS LIKE THE HOUSING ACCELERATOR FUND.”1:56:39 on the tape

One line per meeting, in order — the moment the word first entered the room, with the line before and after it. Every line opens the tape; the tick beside it cuts the line into your reel. All 1400 lines →

the supercut — every one of those moments, played in order
▶ play the supercut31 clips, one per night · 7:02the full cut — 120 of 902 clips, first to latest · 29:21

A reel plays the tape clip to clip, in this browser, and the whole reel lives in its link — copy the address and it is shared; open it and press make this reel yours to re-cut it. Nothing is uploaded, nothing about you is kept.

make one of these — this story came from one search
  1. Search a word. A program, a street, a worry — “housing” was this one. Three letters is enough; the record searches as you type.
  2. See how it was said. The record counts every line of every transcript that says it and draws the count — month by month, night by night, the words beside it. Nothing modeled; every number opens the tape.
  3. Cut it, share it. Press ▶ and the moments play as a reel. Press ✂ on any line to cut your own — from a search, a transcript, an issue. The link is the share: no account, nothing uploaded.

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