WBUR Features BNCLT, Chinatown CLT, and the GBCLTN
This WBUR piece tells the story of BNCLT, Chinatown Community Land Trust, and the Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network. It emphasizes that community land trusts (CLTs) are a valuable tool for keeping housing permanently affordable, and preserving neighborhood history. The article shares:
Executive Director Meridith Levy said the aim is to preserve rental housing in areas hard hit by foreclosures, gentrification and evictions. "We keep seeing the same problem,” Levy said. “People cannot afford to live in their homes, and so they're getting pushed out and they're having to leave the city.”
The property at 14 Leroy St. in Dorchester, which was recently purchased by Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust. (Image Credit: Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Today, CLTs face challenges in acquiring new properties, which can be very expensive in Boston’s housing market. These organizations depend on city subsidies, loans, and donations from supporters. While CLTs have strong support from city allies, who see this model as important to the city’s future, Boston still devotes a limited amount of public funding to CLTs. The article states:
Levy said a key challenge is how to scale up the community land trust model. Right now, organizations like hers can only acquire a limited number of properties each year.
In the meantime, CLTs make a significant impact for current residents, and illuminate alternative ways of relating to housing:
Even on a small scale, Levy said land trusts can make a world of difference to people who live in the affordable units they create.
“It's like thinking about housing as the commons — the way we think about public water or parks or libraries," she said. "Housing is something that should be a right.”
And once the stress of unstable housing is gone, Levy said, people can focus on other important things, like their kids’ education and building their own careers.