The Struggle for Accessible Housing in Boston — Kavan Powers and Jack Fitzgerald

When making our Emerald Necklace transect, we wanted a topic that could show how the landscape of Boston is uniquely racialized. Historically, one of the biggest means of division between black and white people was housing. One of the greatest reasons for the modern wealth disparity between black and white families is the redlining that started in the 1930s which made it very hard for black families to purchase homes to gain equity, along with several other laws that legally outlawed black families from buying certain homes. The place where you live is very important to daily life, as it should be your home base and a place where you feel safe. It is also a major status symbol. Generally, a larger or nicer house in a more affluent neighborhood will make people think more highly of you. Homes also define a large part of the people you interact with because the community you form with your neighbors depends on where you live. Homes are very important parts of our lives, and black people historically have had less access. The government has helped issues of housing by providing low-income housing to some people so they can afford a place to live. Because where we live defines much of our lives, more affluent white people generally do not want low-income housing to be around where they are. Low-income housing is usually located close to Roxbury and the South End, and in more affluent neighborhoods there is almost no low-income housing, and any present is close to Roxbury, and very far away from the Emerald Necklace.

The Emerald Necklace is a defining geological landmark in the city of Boston. Anyone who has lived in or visited the City of Boston has gone to or heard about the many parks that make up this park system. It runs throughout Boston and often sets the boundary for neighborhoods in the city. By defining borders in the city, the Emerald Necklace also defines the segregation and racist ideologies that helped shape the city. Housing can sometimes seem invisible because it is everywhere, and parks are some of the few spaces that delineate between areas full of buildings in the cities, and can also separate groups of people. The rich, affluent, and mostly white neighborhoods are separated from the low-income, minority-dominated neighborhoods that reside mostly to the south of the Emerald Necklace. The parks split up the city and with this divide, the disproportionate distribution of low-income and public housing can be seen. In the city of Boston, the Emerald Necklace is a defining landmark that splits up the city racially, economically, and socially and the divide can be correlated to the uneven dispersion of public housing in the Boston area. The Emerald Necklace has existed for a long time in Boston, as has racism, and the physical manifestation of these ideas have formed around the Emerald Necklace.

Though public housing can be found extending into the North End and even Charlestown and East Boston, there is a disproportionate grouping of public housing in the South End and Roxbury. Both of these neighborhoods are known to be minority-dominated, specifically African American, and have the highest rates of public housing for any of the Boston neighborhoods. This is no surprise given the racist history the city holds, where segregation and racism forced minority communities to live together, away from white communities. This trend has continued into today and shows the lingering effects of racism and segregation. There have been many public battles for improving public housing, or in some instances preventing it from getting destroyed. Although some of these battles have been won, and better housing was acquired in the cases of Tent City and Villa Victoria, it still leaves these people in their communities and does not change the overall integration and racist barriers in the city. The construction of low-income housing mostly within these neighborhoods creates a compounding issue because people live where they can afford the housing, usually keeping them in the same place. This makes it so that the city remains racially segregated and keeps low-income housing out of rich white neighborhoods. By controlling where low-income housing is placed, and keeping it in a narrow area, policymakers can control where the poor and, more often than not, black people live. This means all of the areas around the Emerald Necklace, which are more affluent and whiter, are completely bereft of public housing

These problems are very difficult to solve because the economic and cultural characters of neighborhoods are built up over time, and racism is a very difficult thing to undo. With the revitalization of the Seaport District, Boston had an unmatched opportunity to start from scratch and create a place that served all Bostonians and could have housing that would be available to people of all social strata. This goal was uniquely easy to achieve because there was no historical group of people living there, and all of the development would be from scratch. This neighborhood, which could have been one of the most well-integrated and equal in all of Boston, instead became one of the richest and whitest neighborhoods not just in Boston, but all of America. Many of the issues of Boston’s segregation and racialization could be blamed on the past, but the city cannot squander an opportunity of this magnitude. To finally do right in the present day shows the government and the other powerful individuals in the political sphere that Boston will not continue to be a racist and segregated city. Boston is a racist city and its racism is both historical and current and it has and continues to leave a considerable impact on the physical landscape. The Emerald Necklace is one of Boston’s most important and coveted features, and the locations of all of its low-income housing, and any black or minority population centers are far away from it. Boston is racially segregated, and the Emerald Necklace acts as a huge divider for many institutions throughout the city, including public housing.

Sources:

Nevins, Joseph, et al. A People’s Guide to Greater Boston. University of California Press, 2020.