Smoke Free: The Wave of the Future
Article by Kenneth Krems for the Bay State Apartment Owner publication
In 2008, there were very few smoke-free portions of apartment buildings in Massachusetts, though there was a growing interest. I wrote in the first quarter 2008 Bay State Apartment Owner, that it might be the wave of the future. Much has happened with smoke-free housing over the last few years, and it seems that this will, indeed, be the wave of the future.
Since early 2008, a number of new, luxury, completely smoke-free buildings have opened, such as 75 SL in Medford and Archstone Avenir in Boston. These are buildings where the resident is not only prohibited form smoking in the common areas, but the residents and residents' visitors are also prohibited from smoking in the apartments.
The Boston Housing Authority announced this year that within the next few years it hopes to make all of its developments smoke-free. Its first smoke-free development, Washington-Beech, is now open. The Boston Public Health Commission is embarking on an ambitious program to encourage landlords to make their buildings smoke-free. We will be hearing more about this in the coming months.