The affordable housing crisis is affecting people on a nationwide scale — and it’s an issue that’s hitting especially hard for vulnerable communities that are getting priced out of their own neighborhoods. 

A 13-year study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition found that gentrification impacted at least 135,000 Americans, with Black and Hispanic communities facing the highest rates of displacement in major cities. 

Seven cities accounted for nearly half of the gentrification nationally: New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Diego, and Chicago.

Fortunately, one city is taking significant actions to secure affordable housing for low-income families and prevent further displacement. 

On April 13, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced that the city had successfully purchased 12 apartment buildings for $11 million to secure affordable housing for vulnerable Boston residents. 

“We are so excited to announce that all of the almost 350 units at the Fairlawn Estates will be converted from market-rate housing to permanently affordable housing,” Wu told press. “The city is proud to support all of our residents through Fairlawn through a nearly $11 million investment. 

“For decades, these units were known that way — an affordable place to raise a family and take care of everything that your family needed,” Mayor Wu continued. 

“But over the last few years especially, the rent here was hiked up and up and up, and families were forced out of Fairlawn, out of Mattapan, and out of the city of Boston.”

As Mayor Wu addressed the crowd, throngs of locals cheered her on. 

“I’m quite speechless, actually, but I’m just so happy, not just for myself but for everyone,” Annie Gordon, a Fairlawn resident who has lived in the neighborhood for 50 years, told the Boston Office of Housing. 

“Somebody has to fight for everybody,” Gordon emphasized. “That’s how we looked at it. We was not going to accept anything that didn’t include the entire community because that’s how it should be.” 

The acquisition is part of Mayor Wu’s larger ‘anti-displacement’ action plan, a two-year project titled “A Place to Thrive.” 

The plan — which Boston’s Planning Advisory Council assisted with in December — aims to preserve affordable housing and assist residential homes and small businesses at risk of direct or economic displacement. 

“To be a home for everyone, we must keep our residents, small businesses and cultural spaces rooted in our neighborhoods,” Mayor Wu said in a recent press statement. 

“Our city’s growth must help stabilize communities and deepen roots. I’m grateful for every resident and community member whose feedback has informed this plan and whose love for Boston makes us who we are.”

Below the Fairlawn announcement video, people flooded the comments with praise.

“A winning issue, and humanity for our communities and families!” One Bostonian wrote.

“Thank you Boston for making this world a little better,” one commenter said. 

Another replied: “Boston should be the model for America.” 

Mayor Wu concluded her rousing speech by stating, “Housing is a basic human right, and we won’t rest until every resident has an opportunity to find [home] and be home, here in Boston.”

‍

Header image via Rick Berk / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)