The issue: Development

They want more affordable housing, clout for residents, and protections for neighborhoods.

But the mayoral candidates do not agree on how to accomplish those goals.

Confronting the future of development in Boston, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Councilor at Large Maura A. Hennigan present sharply divergent plans.

Menino wants to forge ahead with his approach: encouraging mixed commercial and residential buildings, entrusting planning to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and mediating on occasion between developers and neighbors.

Hennigan wants a new strategy: a city agency to plan for development that would be accountable to the mayor and City Council, a new director for the BRA, and a firmer hand supporting neighborhood groups against developers.

The challenges are clear. Housing is expensive, and rents are high. Some families are leaving; others never move to Boston at all. Some streets lie in disrepair; others growl with cranes and backhoes.

Hennigan, a Jamaica Plain resident, called a new city planning agency the key to her development agenda. By wresting that task from the BRA, she said, residents would be able to petition city councilors to make changes to developers' plans. She also called for a new BRA director and said she would foster better relations with developers.

The shape of the city is changing, and the two candidates discussed development with Globe correspondent Michael Levenson. Following are excerpts of their comments.

Maura Hennigan

Q: Everyone is talking about the lack of affordable housing, pushing people out. What can you actually do, as mayor, to alleviate the problem?

A: Well, first of all, I think one of the most important things is structurally, from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which is in charge of our development in the city, is we need to spin off the planning agency that presently is under complete control of the mayor, his director. Spin it off so it is directly accountable to local government, which means accountable to the people.

Q: What exactly do you mean, spin it off so it's more accountable?

A: Well, in other words, structurally, right now, the Boston Redevelopment Authority has planning and development under its jurisdiction. So, there is no accountability to the public. There is no say or any sort of community input. They deal with millions and millions and millions of dollars of development on a regular basis, and the public essentially is shut out of that process.

Q: So, but spinning it off then, how will that --

A: Particularly district [city] councilors, in their respective districts, are very sensitive toward meeting the needs of the people who live in those districts. But right now, all our city councilors can go up, they can go up and testify, they can stamp their feet, but they don't have any direct input in those decisions, and that's not right.

Q: And how will that affect affordable housing?

A: Now, what I will do as mayor, which is separate but related to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, is I will create a line item in the City of Boston budget for affordable housing. It will be based on a percentage of new growth revenues. So every time a new office tower goes up, every time a new building is added to the tax roll, that is new growth.

Q: How much do you think that might actually bring in?

A: The issue is not so much how much you will get on any given year. The issue is that you will always be able to plan on a revenue stream coming in for housing, which will allow you to plan better.

Q: Do you think overall there would be more building under a Hennigan administration?

A: There will be planned development, truly planned development. And I believe, in the long run, you will have more development, but it will come on line with community support, with labor union support. Because the way that it is done now is backward. They push the community out of the way, they get the labor unions on board, and then you have the community fighting, fighting, fighting all the way.

What I want to do is involve the community at the beginning. What you do is you'll include the labor unions at that planning level as well. So the labor unions and the community buy into the unit together. Everyone gets to the table at the same time. The process goes forward on a much quicker level.

Q: And you really think with just a little more openness you'll actually encourage [a collaboration between developers and the city]?

A: I know it absolutely will, because I know it's not there now. We need openness. We need to engage people who own property. And you know, not to say that there aren't going to be people who are obstructionists and who won't work with you, but they are usually the exception. By and large, most people want to participate.

Q: What about for young workers? It's been a huge problem trying to get young workers to be able to afford living in the city. What's -- how can you expect them to live in Boston, as opposed to Quincy or --

A: Yeah. Well, one of the things that I am hoping, and every time that I meet with college students, the first thing I say to them is, are you planning to stay in Boston after you graduate? And what some of them say is, ''Gee, I'd love to live here, but it's too expensive." If you look downtown in Boston, around by the Downtown Crossing, we have some of these older buildings, with the retail on the bottom and then the commercial on the upper floors.

But if you look around downtown, you see so many for-lease signs. What I would do is work with those building owners, and either talk to them about leasing or converting those spaces to moderate-priced housing. Moderate-priced lease housing or moderate-priced condominiums. That could be used for people who are graduating from colleges and universities, who would love the excitement of living in a downtown area. And it's really a win for everybody.

Q: Do you see yourself more as communicating the neighborhood wishes, or do you have --

A: No. A mayor is supposed to have a vision, and a mayor has to be able to help put tools in place. And so, obviously, what you want to be able to do, through having a great director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, who is going to have had experience dealing with cities like Boston, historic cities that are particularly significant. I want to be able to go out there and recruit the very best person for this job, who will be able to look at some of the innovative models that have been used in the world-class cities, as Boston can be. I don't want us to lose our edge here.

Because, ultimately, Boston is such a great-size city. It's very unique. We want it always to have a Boston flavor. We don't want it to be a Manhattan. I certainly will never have it be a Manhattan, but --

Q: What's the matter with Manhattan?

A: It's not Boston. It's not who we are. We're not Manhattan, nor should we be. We want to be Boston, but we want to continue to grow. We want to continue to evolve.

Thomas Menino

Q: I was curious, first of all, what are your goals for development for the next four years? The main things that you'd like to see done.

A: Well, first of all, Rose Kennedy Greenway. The other piece of it is, the South Boston Waterfront. We have the largest tract of open space available in any major city in this country on water. And how that's developed is really the key. And that's a priority. And also, you've got East Boston. How you continue to develop that East Boston waterfront over there. You know? And then one of the biggest challenges of all is the Harvard property over in Allston. How do you work with them, make sure the neighborhood is not left behind.

Q: OK. You mentioned the Rose Kennedy Greenway. How much do you, as mayor, take control or take responsibility for what that ends up looking like?

A: Well, I have three appointments on the Board of the Conservancy. But I think there will be a time in the near future where there's going to be discussion about who is going to really be in charge. But this one has to -- because the depression of the Central Artery really was to reconnect the downtown with the waterfront. And not to have another canyonization or Manhattan-izing that waterfront. Now how do they all fit together?

Q: Do you think that's a risk of happening, the Manhattan-izing it?

A: That could be a possibility. I'm not saying it's happening, but it's a possibility. Because it's very valuable space there.

Q: Do you think the steps that the city is taking now are really enough to prevent the city from ultimately changing into a place for the very wealthy and, you know, the poor?

A: Well, it is -- yeah, I think -- no, we have to do more. I'm always -- I'm the type of guy who has to do more. We are never going to be satisfied. We've got to try to be more creative.

I've got some ideas about how we can be more creative in the future with public housing. And in -- have a tax -- have affordability built into it. And we're doing all those things.

Q: Can you suggest -- can you mention some of those new ideas?

A: No, why should I do it before the election?

Q: There seems to be a perception out there that a lot of developers are afraid of you and the mayor's office.

A: Who? Name them. Say it -- I love that. I love that charge. I -- what developer hasn't got his development done?

You know why they're afraid of me? Because I want them to hear what the community wants. Maybe they just want to go out there and take advantage of -- to make money. My process is how we protect neighborhoods.

Now there's some developers out there -- yeah, maybe they're fearful of city government, because they just want to go in there and build any kind of housing. Whatever it looks like, they don't care.

Q: OK. How much do you personally have your hands on the lever of development?

A: No. I only get involved when there's a question in the end. I mean, I don't -- I -- the whole process? Very little. I get involved when I'm out in the communities -- when I'm out in the communities, they say, we've got a problem with a development. That's how I get involved. I step in . . . and I try to mediate the issue. But I have to take -- I have to protect the residential. You know, the aesthetics of the residential area.

Q: OK. You really don't get involved until the end? Until the end of the project?

A: No, they come and see me at the beginning. Aw, fellas, go see the BRA [Boston Development Authority], and leave me alone. You know, I don't -- I don't -- you think I stay with a project?

Q: What do you think is going to happen with the South Boston Waterfront?

A: I've answered this a thousand times. I'm the one who worked with the Conservation Law Foundation on the plan for it. It's a hundred feet setback from the water line.

There's -- 50 percent of the land is open space. There's space for a skating rink, there's the ICA [Institute of Contemporary Art museum under construction] there, there's other open space along there. There's a lot of open space.

I really believe it can't just be hotels, condominiums, and offices. There has to be something else down there to help create jobs. Because they're bringing in a graduate school for one of the universities there. It's about bringing financial services center down there. It about them bringing the medical, administrative medical operation down there. And there's plenty of access. I mean, gee willikers, I mean, there's plenty of waterfront access.

Q: What do you think about the idea of trying to build housing in the Downtown Crossing, or trying to make some of the office space there into housing.

A: We're doing it. In the next 10 years, we'll have 60,000 units of housing in the downtown area.

Q: How much does that cost?

A: We're not doing it. Private developers are doing it.

Q: Look at Spectacle Island.

A: It's sitting out there. It's been a total disaster.

Q: Can you think of anything that would actually get people to take a boat ride out to one of those [Harbor] Islands?

A: Yeah, like a tourist -- like a village. Like baronial Venice. They created a village of a little -- row houses and some restaurants, and some -- maybe like a -- over there they have lace. They make lace. I'm just saying, off Verona, which is another island off of Venice, where they have glass blowing. Other shops, too. Something, you know, create some kind of village. Some aren't big enough for that, but some are. But do something different. Do something. Just don't sit there and say you can't do it.

For complete coverage of the upcoming city election, go to boston.com and click on Boston Elections.