Emilio Dorcely

Until a few months ago, I led Bridge Street Development Corp. – a Brooklyn-based community development corporation – which a few years ago built 23 new units of affordable housing in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. It won’t surprise anyone in either New York or Boston to know that they received more than 30,000 applications for those few units.

New York and Boston are different cities, but both metropolitan areas share similar challenges when it comes to affordable housing and addressing gentrification and displacement. As I have heard from people living in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain in my new role as chief executive officer at Urban Edge, it has become clear that as much as residents are concerned about being able to afford to live in these neighborhoods, they are also worried about maintaining the community’s character and ensuring their families and children can stay in the places they have called home for decades.

Residents Face Sizable Struggles

There is no doubt that the demand for affordable housing in Jackson Square and Egleston Square is real and significant. Boston remains one of the most expensive areas to live in the U.S.

According to the real estate listing site Zumper, rents in Boston increased by 6 percent in one year, with the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment for the entire city being $2,450. In August, the same site noted the median cost of rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Roxbury was $1,820. According to the Boston Planning & Development Agency, in 2015, the median household income for the neighborhood was a little less than $26,000. The math clearly does not add up in favor of residents.

Like many other amazing organizations here, our roots are in community activism. As both Boston and our community evolves, we anticipate that we’ll draw on that history to help meet the needs of those living here.

So it’s not surprising that those living in our neighborhoods are concerned about being displaced. Boston has grown in terms of new jobs and new luxury housing over the last several years, but that uneven growth has not been shared by everyone. And as the cost of living has increased for everyone, there is a legitimate concern from people who have made their homes in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain for generations that their families will be pushed out by market rate redevelopment and by people looking for more reasonably-priced urban housing, despite the significant and innovative efforts by Mayor Marty Walsh and his administration to develop more affordable housing.

Urban Edge understands our city needs more housing – both market rate and affordable. As a developer of housing affordable for low- and moderate-income families, we work with our community both to preserve homes and build new housing in Egleston and Jackson Squares. In September, we cut the ribbon on 49 new affordable rental homes at Walker Park in Roxbury. In late 2020, we will break ground on Holtzer Park, which will bring 62 more affordable units to the neighborhood.

We have even more in the pipeline for 2021 and beyond. We are working with our community partners, and with the city and the commonwealth to do our part to address the need for quality affordable housing.

Build Community, Prevent Displacement

But we also know that building community means more than just building housing. As a community development corporation, Urban Edge recognizes that the people who live in our neighborhoods – black and brown residents, in particular – face institutional and economic barriers to advancement. For instance, a publication issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Duke University and the New School in 2015 asserted that the median net worth for U.S.-born black households in Boston is only $8 and for Dominican-born Bostonians, it is only $0. In comparison, the median net worth for white households was $247,500.

Our staff work alongside residents to overcome those obstacles. Like many other amazing organizations here, our roots are in community activism – those who established Urban Edge found their voice when working to stop the Inner Belt highway that threatened to physically destroy Roxbury and Jamaica Plain more than 45 years ago. As both Boston and our community evolves, we anticipate that we’ll draw on that history to help meet the needs of those living here.

Roxbury and Jamaica Plain are rich with history – and ripe with opportunity. The goal of an organization like Urban Edge is to ensure the people who have lived here for years are not overlooked when it comes to prospects for new housing, new jobs, and more.

As a new resident to Boston myself, I am looking forward to being a part of this community, to working with the neighborhood and its leaders to overcome barriers, and to helping keep longtime residents from being displaced.

Emilio Dorcely is the CEO of developer Urban Edge Inc.