The Brighton of Today: A Growing Affordability Crisis

THE BRIGHTON OF TODAY

A GROWING AFFORDABILITY CRISIS

DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES The neighborhood of Brighton, in which the Gardens has slowly grown more diverse over the years.

Situated just south of the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Charles River, the neighborhood surrounding Faneuil Gardens has experienced considerable changes over the past decade as economic forces radically transform both Allston and Brighton. Since the turn of the millennium, the Allston-Brighton area has been documented as having less diversity, fewer families, and a far younger and poorer population than the rest of Boston. Even looking as recently as 2010, 75.3% of Allston-Brighton residents identified as white, in contrast to 57.8% in Boston. With a median age of 23.8 years old and 53.2% of all residents enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs in 2010, the Allston-Brighton area lives up to its reputation as a neighborhood full of students.

But over the past decade, the Allston-Brighton area has undergone radical changes in diversity. By 2018, the net percentage of white residents decreased to 66.27%, while Asian and Hispanic populations continued to grow, making up 16.7% and 14.6% of residents respectively. Families with children under 18 years old still made up a small minority of residents, at a persistent 10% of the population—in contrast to 20% seen in Boston overall—but more non-student residents have moved into the area by 2018, dropping the percentage of student residents to 44.3%.

RECENT DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING CRISIS: A RAPIDLY CHANGING MARKET Rapidly rising rents for family housing in the Brighton neighborhood places increasing financial pressure on the quarter of residents who are below the poverty line.

The steady drift towards diversity in AllstonBrighton has accompanied the tectonic shifts in the area’s economic landscape as private developers and institution actors such as Harvard University spur rapid development of the area. Since receiving approval for its Allston campus in 2013, Harvard has continued to expand its institutional footprint in Allston with its newly finished Science and Engineering Complex and upcoming development of its Enterprise Research Campus. Closer to Faneuil Gardens, in 2019 the BPDA also recently signed off on the Allston Yards development next to the Boston Landing station, one of the largest developments in Allston-Brighton’s history at more than 1.2 million square feet.

“Harvard’s expansion is changing the dynamics of the neighborhood completely. All these other developments would have never happened otherwise.” - Jen

26% Population Living in Poverty

23.8 Median Age

33.7% Non-White Residents

“We’re building a lot of housing, but very, very, very little of it is as affordable in the district.” ~ Liz Breadon, Allston-Brighton City Counselor