Where we live...

Where we live determines the quality of our children’s education, our access to jobs, and aspects of our health and well-being.

Racial discrimination was once an explicit part of housing laws, regulations, and practices, creating unequal access to opportunity. While the laws have changed, the impact of decades of institutionalized discrimination continues to have a profound effect today. This timeline traces the institutionalization of segregation in Eastern Massachusetts, starting with explicit discriminatory laws in the early 1900s to today’s more implicit practices that continue to perpetuate segregation.

Explore the Timeline and Resources

Periods

• 1920s-1948: Racially Restrictive Covenants
• 1934-1968: FHA Insurance Requirements Use Redlining
• 1948-1968: Unenforceable Covenants
• 1950s-1970s: Development of Rte. 128 and Rte. 495 Suburbs
• 1968-Present: Housing Discrimination
• 1970s-Present: Disparate Impact of Local Land Use Regulations

Maps

• Areas of Opportunity in Greater Boston
• Percentage of Population Identifying as Black, Hispanic or Latino
• Percentage of Population Identifying as Black, Hispanic or Latino in Areas of Opportunity in Greater Boston
• Low Income Housing Tax Credits in Boston
• Towns that outlaw multifamily zoning in Greater Boston
• Towns with a minimum mutifamily lot size of more than 1 acre or that have age-restricted zoning or that outlaw multifamily zoning in Greater Boston
• Towns that have age-restricted zoming or that outlaw multifamily zoning in Greater Boston

Resources

• Printed materials and websites referred to in this website
• Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston website