Exclusionary by Design: An Investigation of Zoning’s Use as a Tool of Race, Class, and Family Exclusion in Boston’s Suburbs, 1920 to Today
By Amy Dain, Dain Research
November 8, 2023
As part of Boston Indicators’ new Racial Wealth Equity Research Center initiative, we commissioned Amy Dain, among the region’s leading zoning experts, to research and write this new special report. Based on extensive review of local planning documents, state reports, and press coverage over the past 100 years, the report finds widespread use of zoning as a tool of social exclusion against residents of color, especially Black residents; lower-income and working-class residents; families with school-aged children; religious minorities; immigrants; and, in some cases, any newcomers/outsiders at all.
Amy Dain’s presentation from the event, which dives deep into how these policies came to be, is available below:
