Living Cities:The National Community Development Initiative

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Brownstones , Boston, MA

Current Challenges

Boston is better than many at retaining jobs in its center, but the movement of jobs to the suburbs is still a pressing issue. As work sites move further away, promoting in-town jobs becomes especially important, given that 22.8% of the city’s children live in families with parents who do not work, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. To address this problem, the City of Boston and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) are seeking to revitalize commercial districts in many locations. The National Bio-Safety Lab to be constructed with a $124 million federal grant is expected to add more than 1,000 jobs over the next several years and encourage the growth of related businesses.

Affordable housing presents another challenge. Rents are among the highest in the country, making it difficult for renters to save enough to move up to homeownership. Boston’s rate of homeownership, overall, is one of the lowest among large cities. Mayor Thomas M. Menino recently pledged more than $7 million to launch a new affordable housing initiative.

BOSTON

Turning Neighborhoods Around

Boston improved markedly during the last decade. The city showed a 4.6% population growth from 1990 to 2000, an important rise after losing population between 1950 and 1980. Median household incomes went up, and more African American and Hispanic and Latino families attained homeownership than ever before.

Programs to strengthen CDCs were hard at work. Supported by Living Cities, the Human Capital Development Initiative (HCDI) and the Richanne Hadrian Initiative in Community Organizing (RHICO) both trained numerous CDC leaders and bolstered community outreach efforts.

Neighborhood Redevelopment: Egleston Square

Dorchester, MA

Lacking historic architecture and charming street corners, the Egleston Square neighborhood in Jamaica Plain has nonetheless undergone a highly successful revitalization.In a city where many redevelopment projects have capitalized on the historic character of the housing stock, Egleston Square relied instead on its human capital. Strong efforts by community groups, police, and city service providers in the 1990s brought attention and funding to the abandoned buildings and vacant lots of this neighborhood. The Urban Edge CDC helped to provide affordable housing for more than 3,000 in the greater Egleston Square area, saving residents from displacement. A new project, Egleston Crossing, will add 64 affordable homes plus 8,000 square feet of retail space.

Keeping Jobs in the City: Dorchester Bay EDC

Dorchester, MA

The Boston Insulated Wire and Cable factory in Dorchester had long been abandoned when Dorchester Bay EDC gained control of the site in 1992. After an environmental cleanup, the CDC worked to bring in as tenants Spire Inc., a marketing, graphic design, and printing company from the Back Bay neighborhood. Spire moved into its new 80,000-square-foot headquarters in 2002, keeping 110 jobs in Boston and promising to add 80 more over five years, with preference given to low- and moderate-income Boston residents.

Reaching Those Most in Need: SRO Special Housing Needs Collaborative

Single-room occupancy (SRO) housing was once a mainstay of urban centers. But over the past century, such housing opportunities for the poor have been quickly disappearing. In 1990, the SRO Special Housing Needs Collaborative worked with five nonprofits, the AIDS Action Committee, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to preserve SRO housing for individuals who most needed it—those with very low incomes and those with AIDS or mental illness. Ninety SRO units in six properties now offer living space and crucial health and social services to tenants who might otherwise be homeless.

Boston Facts

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