Anti-Displacement Action Plan

Displacement: When people are forced to leave their homes and neighborhoods due to external pressures. There are different types of displacement that the City works to address.

• DIRECT DISPLACEMENT: Refers to a situation where households are forced to move from their homes, due to non-renewal or lack of a lease, eviction, foreclosure, demolition/redevelopment/ substantial renovation of their housing, or physical conditions that make a home uninhabitable, including climate disasters.. Typically this results from actions taken - or not taken - by the property owner, though historically it has also resulted from government action through urban renewal and clearance.
• ECONOMIC DISPLACEMENT: Refers to a situation where current residents of an area can no longer afford to live there due to rising housing costs. This can result from a range of actors and actions, including but not limited to private development, public investment, insufficient supply relative to demand, rising utility costs, and demographic change. This is also sometimes referred to as “indirect” displacement. 
• COMMERCIAL/CULTURAL DISPLACEMENT: Similar to residents, the closure or relocation of businesses and cultural enterprises may be the result of direct or economic displacement. They may be adversely impacted by non-renewal or absence of a lease, redevelopment or demolition of their existing premises, or rising rents. When the nature of services and goods sold in a given area shift, existing residents can feel a sense of dislocation or detachment from community. 
• GENTRIFICATION: Pattern of neighborhood change in which a previously low-income neighborhood experiences new investment, whether by private or public actors, accompanied by demographic changes, increasing home values and/or rents, and other social and economic changes associated with the physical, cultural, and/or political displacement of existing lower-income residents. Gentrification is acknowledged to also include the ways that climate change, and responses to it, may impact property markets and neighborhood change patterns. Importantly, while the issues are related, not all displacement is linked to gentrification.

• Residents have advocated for greater displacement protections at the local and state level for many years. In response, many new protections and tools have been added to the City’s toolbox. But in the midst of a housing crisis, rising costs and even more pressures on households and small operators, this Administration recognizes the need for a comprehensive plan. 
• The City of Boston is also continuing to modernize and update zoning in many areas, creating space to welcome new neighbors, expand our housing supply and support vibrant, mixed-used neighborhoods. We recognize that rezoning can create both new opportunities and new pressures on existing residents and businesses. We want to ensure adequate safeguards are in place to provide stability alongside growth.

No, the Action Plan outlines over 40 new or expanded anti-displacement tools that the City is committed to implementing over the next two years. Boston’s complete Anti-Displacement Toolkit includes these new tools, along with more than 80 existing tools already in use to prevent both direct and economic displacement of residents, businesses, and cultural organizations, as detailed in Boston’s Existing Toolkit & Progress Report.

Residents can view all the tools, both new and existing, in Boston’s Anti-Displacement Toolkit.

We use the broadest definition of “tool”, in line with common practice, and includes four types:

• Programs and resources (e.g. a program to help people to buy homes, or the Metrolist affordable housing search engine),
• People (e.g. an Energy Advocate who helps residents lower their energy costs),
• Financial resources (e.g. our direct investment in public and income-restricted housing), and
• Policies or regulatory powers (e.g. ordinances, zoning.)

Oftentimes, all four are necessary to enable a single intervention.

• Renters: Boston’s Office of Housing Stability is a central resource for tenants facing eviction or needing emergency housing. With services in English and Spanish, it provides tenants with legal support, landlords with counseling, and dispute resolution. Contact them at housingstability@boston.gov or call 617-635-4200. 
• Homeowners: The Boston Home Center provides free, confidential foreclosure prevention and intervention counseling in multiple languages, including working with lenders on loan modifications. It also runs multiple home repair programs. Contact them at homecenter@boston.gov or call 617-635-4633.  
• Cultural Enterprises: For cultural enterprises and individual artists who are facing displacement, please contact arts@boston.gov. A member from the Cultural Planning Team can set up a conversation with you regarding your space needs and connect you with any available spaces or resources. While no immediate assistance is guaranteed, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture wants to be aware of the magnitude of the displacement threat.
• Small Businesses: For small business owners who are facing displacement, please contact smallbiz@boston.gov using the subject line “Displacement Inquiry”. A member from the Small Business Office will be in touch to discuss your needs and provide the appropriate resources.

The Boston Housing Strategy 2025 is a joint effort of the Mayor’s Office of Housing, Boston Housing Authority and the Planning Department. It lays out priority policies and programs and sets goals through 2025 for expanding housing supply, improving housing stability, increasing equitable access to homeownership, advancing Boston’s climate priorities through housing, and preserving existing affordable housing. 

Read the Strategy. 

Track Progress. 

The Housing Strategy calls for development of an Anti-Displacement Action Plan. This Action Plan will focus on residential, as well as commercial and cultural, displacement and draws on the expertise of additional Cabinets, including the Office of Economic Opportunity & Inclusion, the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture and the Office of Workforce Development.