Boston Indicators: "Exclusionary By Design"

The Boston Indicators team at the Boston Foundation has done a lot of fantastic statistical work on Boston housing and other equity issues. This report is a more historical examination, quite detailed and also expansive in its scope, of exclusionary zoning in the Boston metro area. One of the strengths of the paper is that it doesn’t overstate the case: rather, it explains how zoning processes, particularly in the 1970s, never had to say a word about race while remaining very obviously and profoundly about race.

If you’re interested in housing in Boston, I think this is a must-read.

EXCLUSIONARY BY DESIGN: AN INVESTIGATION OF ZONING’S USE AS A TOOL OF RACE, CLASS, AND FAMILY EXCLUSION IN BOSTON’S SUBURBS, 1920-TODAY.