More than 3,000 transit-rich neighborhoods (TRNs) in U.S. metropolitan areas have fixed-guideway transit stations and hundreds more such neighborhoods could be created over the next decade if current plans for new transit systems and stations are realized. Like all neighborhoods these transit-rich neighborhoods change over time, in ways that both benefit and harm those who have been living there. How does the presence of transit shape neighborhoods?  Does transit investment and expansion inevitably lead to gentrification and displacement?

This website presents the results of research conducted by the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University on the diversity of transit-rich neighborhoods, the symbiotic relationship between diverse neighborhoods and successful transit,  and patterns of neighborhood change in TRNs.  We wanted to understand whether gentrification and displacement are actually occurring in transit-rich neighborhoods. To the extent that undesirable patterns of neighborhood change were found, we also wanted to understand the underlying mechanisms so that policy tools could be deployed to shape equitable neighborhood change in both old and new TRNs.

Our research reveals that transit investment can sometimes lead to undesirable forms of neighborhood change. Understanding the mechanisms behind such neighborhood change can, however, allow policymakers, planners and advocates to implement policies and programs designed to produce more equitable patterns of neighborhood change. Our Policy Toolkit for Equitable Transit-Rich Neighborhoods presents information on a variety of polity tools that are increasingly available and in use across the country to shape equitable neighborhood change in transit-rich neighborhoods and ensure that the many benefits of transit investment are shared by all. This website presents both the report, Maintaining Diversity In America’s Transit-Rich Neighborhoods: Tools for Equitable Neighborhood Change, and the policy toolkit.  

The Dukakis Center gratefully acknowledges the generous funding support of the Rockefeller Foundation and its Promoting Equitable, Sustainable Transportation initiative.