Classist and racist zoning decisions from decades past reverberate in today’s neighborhoods.

A new report from Boston Indicators “examines how zoning restrictions over the last 100 years has been used to exclude people along race and class lines in Greater Boston,” highlighting the need for zoning reform that can alleviate the region’s housing crisis and begin to undo decades of discriminatory policies. Zeninjor Enwemeka describes the report’s findings in an article for WBUR, noting that “Many suburbs of Boston used zoning policies to explicitly retain wealthy people and restrict lower-income people over decades, the report found.” Due in part to the connection between class and race, the report found racial disparities as well.
Last century’s zoning decisions are still important, the article notes, because they largely dictate new laws. “According to the report, zoning restrictions also helped create housing scarcity and high housing costs in the region as communities sought to be more "exclusive, desirable, expensive." And these things impact everyone today as there is more demand for housing, the report said.”
The report praises the recently passed MBTA Communities zoning law, which requires upzoning near transit to make room for more housing, and calls for more state-level zoning reform.
FULL STORY: How Greater Boston's zoning decisions reverberate a century later

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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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