From Urban Renewal to Affordable Housing Production System: Boston Mayors and the Evolution of Community Development Corporations in Boston April 2016 Published by The Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) Karl Seidman, Senior Lecturer in Economic Development (
[email protected]) Tunney Lee, Professor Emeritus (
[email protected]) Elise Selinger, Master in City Planning 2016 (
[email protected]) White Paper Organization 1. Introduction 2. Building a “New Boston” and Urban Renewal Mayor Hynes (1950 -1959) 3. From Mass Clearance to “Planning with People” Mayor Collins (1960 -1967) 4. The Emergence of Boston’s Early CDCs Mayor White I (1968 -1975) 5. The Growth of Boston CDCs Mayor White II (1976 -1983) 6. Maturing State and Local Support Mayor Flynn (1984 -1993) 7. An Ecosystem of Interdependence Mayor Menino (1994 -2013) 8. Conclusion 1 1. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how a uniquely robust ecosystem of support for Community Development Corporations (CDCs) in Boston has grown over time to make Boston a preeminent city for CDC housing production in the country. A CDC is defined as “a nonprofit, community-based development organization that engages in community development activities such as housing production, commercial property development, business development, social services and/or job creation for the benefit of community residents.”1 Boston has been a leader, first in utilizing the federal programs and later in designing and implementing creative local initiatives for affordable housing production.2 Boston’s urban renewal program resulted significant community displacement but there was also land for mayors to allocate to CDCs for the development of permanent affordable housing.