WORCESTER, Mass. - With the cost of rent rising in Worcester, the Worcester Together Housing Coalition is calling on the city adopt an inclusionary zoning policy to make sure there are affordable options to live in the city.

The policy would ensure that at least 10 percent of new housing units in the city would be available at no more than 60 percent of the area median income, or A.M.I. 

Benji Kemper, community organizer for the Center for Living and Working, said this would allow the city to remain an option for people that would otherwise be priced out of the region.

"One thing we really want to see is adopt them at 60 percent of the A.M.I.," Kemper. "80 percent of the A.M.I. is way too high and doesn't really get to really affect anybody, it's just a measure to kind of look like we're doing something."

The coalition said a benefit of inclusionary zoning is that it spreads affordable housing  throughout the city and makes schools and neighborhoods more economically diverse.