Observers say they've got the right political chemistry at the right time.
Plainly and simply, Gleason said, churchgoers vote so legislators listen. And churchgoers are increasingly troubled by sharp increases in housing costs. Recent economic boom times have sent rents soaring in New England cities. Apartment vacancy rates cling stingily to 1 percent in Boston, for instance. Gentrification has meant a necessary relocation for many and, in the worst cases, homelessness.