Land Trusts Preserve Affordability, but for Whom?

A new episode from the Next City podcast highlights the city of Boston’s plan to purchase residential buildings for the city’s East Boston Neighborhood Land Trust, which then keeps housing units affordable for tenants in perpetuity.

The episode features the efforts of a local community group called City Life/Vida Urbana (CLVU), which has done research into the buildings purchased by the city and what happened to their prior tenants, many of whom were evicted by the previous owners before the city purchased the buildings. The nonprofit works with residents to help them fight evictions and access resources.

Community land trusts are part of a growing movement to preserve affordable housing and put decisionmaking power in the hands of residents.