links and resources: Exclusion by Design, Upzone Update
Your blog wrangler has never met Amy Dain and knows very little about her, but asks, does that need to stop a fandom?
With a tween in the house, your blog wrangler knows that nothing can stop a true fandom.
Whether you join an Amy Dain fandom or no, her recent work is worth knowing about and checking out. The first is her report on the history of exclusionary zoning in Boston. It’s here:
EXCLUSIONARY BY DESIGN: An Investigation of Zoning’s Use as a Tool of Race, Class, and Family Exclusion in Boston’s Suburbs, 1920 to Today
The second is an ongoing project, which includes an email newsletter, called the MBTA Communities Tracker. That’s here:
The email newsletter is called the Upzone Update, in contrast to what Exclusionary By Design describes as the Big Downzone—the moment in the 1970s when many Boston suburbs, including Belmont, doubled down on exclusion. It’s from this report that we find the 1976 Belmont town planning committee report happily noting, “This town will remain a relatively expensive place to live and so will attract only those families so economically situated.”
The first Upzone Update post is especially relevant to Belmont. Leave out for the moment the people who just want to reject the law altogether. Among those who understand adherence to the law isn’t actually optional, there are the people who seem to want the most minimal and least helpful compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, while others want to use it as an opportunity to think more expansively and optimistically about what our town needs for the future. Check it out here:
Let’s be meaningful!