The City of Boston is a huge landowner.   Most of the surplus land and buildings were foreclosed on because the owners didn’t pay their taxes.
These properties could easily be sold off and used to build new housing for people of all incomes.
The City of New York has done this.
Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times
During the 1970s [...]

The city offers first-time homebuyers a great "Homebuying 101" class, covering everything from mortgages, budgeting, shopping for a home, and the benefits of using an attorney, etc.
The class is ten hours long, and is held in different neighborhoods, every couple of months.
City of Boston - Homebuying 101

Bankrate.com has a great little article about when not to buy a house.
Reasons not to buy:
Job shaky? Don’t buy.Into investing? Don’t buy.Dreams too big for budget? Don’t buy.Damaged credit? Don’t buy.
By Michael D Larson, Bankrate.com
You shouldn’t buy a house.
Believe it or not, that’s good advice for some people, no matter what the mortgage lender says. [...]

Data showing that the percentage of Americans owning their own homes has increased each year, at least since 1995.

HOMEOWNERSHIP RATES, 1995 TO 2004

United States
1995   65.81996   66.71997   67.01998   67.51999   68.1
    2000   68.52001   69.12002   69.3
    2003   69.4
    2004   70.0
Source: Public Policy Institute of California, by way of the San Francisco Chronicle

The Boston Globe has an editorial in the Sunday paper today about the cost of buying a home, and how it’s expensive.  At least, expensive, in their opinion.  They use data presented by the Center for Housing Policy, a Washington DC think-tank.
However, as is often the case with those with an agenda, they are [...]

In a story stating the obvious, Kimberly Blanton of the Globe reports that buying a home in the Back Bay, Beacon Hill and South End neighborhoods can be expensive.
I was out looking at one-bedroom condos yesterday, so have had a chance to see what $450,000 buys in these neighborhoods, these days.  Basically, you can get [...]