During a forum held by the Boston Foundation on September 24, the Boston Indicators and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s (MHP) Center for Housing Data released a report, titled 15-Minute Neighborhoods: Repairing Regional Harms and Building Vibrant Neighborhoods for All. A 15-minute neighborhood is defined as one where living necessities, including grocery stores, hospitals, schools and even recreational outdoor space, are all accessible to residents within a fifteen minute walk from their homes. Yet, while many use this buzzword to simply advocate for prettier walking areas, the report from the Indicators and MHP takes a uniquely regional approach, with additional attention paid toward accessible public transportation, and addressing the social diversity (or disparities) throughout the Commonwealth. While noting the barriers in place, it also names legislation that has recently been introduced to propel us toward making these neighborhoods a reality.
According to a poll released by Pew Research Center, 34% of Americans view infrastructure as a “very big problem”, with many pain points being most apparent in lower income areas. “Through policy actions and inactions, both the state and local communities have made equitable neighborhoods more challenging over the past decades,” said Tom Hopper, Director of Research and Analytics at the MHP’s Center for Housing Data. The report released helps define the cause of these challenges, highlighting the biggest hurdles with the most potential solutions.
The demand for residential and mixed-use buildings near public transportation shines in the forefront in the report, citing the benefits of connecting suburban and urban hubs throughout the Greater Boston Area. While public transportation is used nation-wide, the Northeast alone has reported that 25% of its residents rely on it to get to work, school, stores and more on a regular basis. The need is even greater for those in majority Black and Hispanic demographics, in which 34 and 27 percent, respectively, reported regular reliance on public methods of transport. The Economic Development Bond Bill, introduced in January of this year, was developed to require that every MBTA community develop at least one multifamily zoning district.
Presented hand-in-hand with our typical idea of infrastructure, social infrastructure is cited as a necessity for healthier and more equitable neighborhoods. Locations like community centers, places of worship, and outdoor recreational areas were all included in the mix. In the city of Boston, public green spaces coincide heavily with neighborhood wealth and density. Heavily populated areas like Mission Hill and the South End have less available parks, trails and grassy areas than their neighbors over in Jamaica Plain and Fenway/Kenmore. The report notes that lower-income neighborhoods are also at risk of having their green spaces heavily policed. The authors claim that this can discourage people from going outside and interacting in spaces specifically set aside for community building.
After outlining the major factors that make up a 15-minute neighborhood (of which they include five total), the report goes on to feature four case-study neighborhoods that are moving in a positive direction. Assembly Square, the Canal District, Downtown Reading and Jackson Square are each highlighted for their potential to reach the 15-minute model, as well as the diversity amongst the Commonwealth’s neighborhood types.
Assembly Square in Sommerville garners attention as a new neighborhood rebuilt almost entirely from scratch. Thanks to strong community-based advocacy and litigation, Assembly was designed with a multitude of commercial and residential spaces, as well as access to the waterfront and other outdoor areas for the public. Assembly also boasts a high percentage of affordable housing, containing around 40% of the Greater Boston Area’s newly built affordable units. However, the neighborhood remains more car-friendly in some areas, with Interstate-93 creating a barrier that cuts residents off from East Somerville. City planners and residents, however, are working together to propel Assembly’s strengths forward, with plans to replace Assembly Marketplace with mixed-use buildings and plenty of available recreational space.
Similar difficulties regarding vehicle-centric design come up in their analysis of the Canal District of Worcester. The neighborhood is an up-and-comer in the second-biggest city in Massachusetts, with a significant retail boom. However, like Assembly, it possesses barriers created by car-dominated roads, and an uneven distribution of residential space. Yet city planners are looking forward to the next five years, during which they plan to build more mixed-use and residential buildings in largely commercial areas. The Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) has also taken significant steps to make public transportation more accessible to residents, such as waiving all fares through January 1, 2022.
Jackson Square, of Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, is the third case-study in the report. In 2005, the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) named Jackson Square Partners as the lead developer in the revitalization efforts of the neighborhood. To date, 179 housing units in mixed-use buildings have been built, with over 100 more to come. Jackson Square also contains a nearly five mile bike path that takes users through both parks and commercial centers throughout the neighborhood. To address the accessibility of public transportation, efforts to create a centrally located bus lane down Columbus Avenue are in the works, which will aid the residents that commute throughout Boston for work and school. Canopies have been installed at the stops, and operation tests began earlier this month. The lanes should be fully equipped and in use by the end of the year. The largest final hurdle regarding Jackson Square is that of increasing gentrification and social disparity. Though still widely diverse, the neighborhood has not been immune to rising housing prices, and concequencially, the displacement of many of its non-white Hispanic population.
The final neighborhood in the spotlight is downtown Reading, the center of a higher-income, more suburban and ethnically homogenous town. Reading is home to mostly single family, stand-alone houses, with the majority of its residents commuting via car. However, the potential to open up Reading’s downtown neighborhood is present with the usage of the Haverhill commuter rail line. The report also suggests that including more bus routes could open Reading up to visitors who may not be able to afford the homes directly in the area, as well as addressing the residents’ frustration over public parking. Currently, a private group of property and business owners, as well as residents, are working with a state-issued grant to create a Business Improvement District (BID), with the hopes that it will make way for greater engagement amongst residents and visitors alike.
“The ’15-Minute Neighborhood’ concept alone is an opportunity, not a guarantee, for addressing some of the inequities we have let fester in our communities for decades,” said Dr. M. Lee Pelton, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “With this report, the Indicators and MHP team has created a vision that recognizes the needs for infrastructure and affordable housing that equitable development requires, and the policy changes needed to make that development more possible.”
