A Toolkit for Equitable Neighborhood Change in Transit-Rich Neighborhoods (PDF)

This 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. The selected policy tools directly address the most likely drivers of undesirable neighborhood change in TRNs identified in the Dukakis Center’s research. For suggestions of additional tools, please contact Stephanie Pollack.

The Policy Toolkit includes three types of policy tools.

Planning Tools: Because neighborhood change can happen quickly, particularly in neighborhoods dominated by rental housing, policymakers need to get ahead of potential problems. The Toolkit includes coordinated and community-responsive planning tools designed to be used at the same time as transit planning that explicitly consider the risks of gentrification and include everyone with a stake in the neighborhood’s future.

Housing Market Tools: Because one of the most noticeable and damaging signs of transit-induced gentrification is rapidly rising rents and housing values, policies that address housing are critical. The Toolkit includes several types of housing market tools: 

• Funding for land and property acquisition;
• Preservation of existing affordable rental housing; and
• Affordable housing production.

Transportation Management Tools: Because one characteristic of gentrifying transit-rich neighborhoods is an increase in wealthier households who are also more likely to own and use private vehicles and less likely to use transit for commuting, transportation management is an essential tool for shaping neighborhood change.  The Toolkit includes transportation management tools designed to attract core and potential transit riders, particularly non-vehicle owning households, to transit-rich neighborhoods.