"We're Being Pushed Out": Residents Voice Fears Over City's New Zoning Plan

At a packed community meeting at the Roxbury Community College last Tuesday, Diane Chen held up a rental notice showing her monthly payment had climbed to $2,100 for a two-bedroom apartment in Jamaica Plain—a 40 percent increase since 2023. Around her, dozens of neighbors nodded in recognition of a familiar story.

The scene captured the tension gripping Boston's housing debate as the city moves forward with sweeping zoning changes that would permit taller buildings and mixed-use development across neighborhoods from Uphams Corner to the Waterfront. City planners argue the reforms are necessary to create affordable units and ease an acute housing shortage that has made Boston one of the nation's least affordable cities. But residents like Chen fear the policies will accelerate gentrification rather than prevent it.

"I work two jobs, and I still can't imagine buying a home here," said Chen, a teacher at a nearby elementary school. "When they say new development brings affordability, who are they talking about? Not people like us."

The zoning proposal would allow developers to build higher-density housing on parcels throughout East Boston and Roxbury, areas historically home to immigrant and working-class families. While the city has negotiated affordability requirements with developers—typically mandating 13 to 15 percent of units in new projects be deed-restricted as affordable—community advocates argue the percentages fall far short of need.

According to a recent analysis by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, median rents in Roxbury have climbed 28 percent since 2020, outpacing wage growth across the service and healthcare sectors that employ much of the neighborhood's workforce.

At the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation, organizers are pressing the city to increase affordability mandates to 25 percent and establish community benefits agreements that would guarantee jobs for existing residents. "New development doesn't automatically help the people already here," said a spokesperson for the nonprofit. "Without real protections, it just changes who lives in the neighborhood."

City officials defend their approach, noting that zoning restrictions have constrained housing supply for decades, driving up prices. They point to recent projects on Lansdowne Street and near the Seaport that include units rented below market rates.

Yet residents attending meetings from Mattapan to Allston remain skeptical. As the city's planning board prepares to vote on the zoning changes in July, the voices of those who call these neighborhoods home are pushing back—demanding that growth benefit the communities that have sustained Boston through decades of change.

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