Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Housing Market
The private housing market dominates the available housing in Arlington, and therefore market conditions are an
important factor in fair housing matters. Unfortunately, the housing market in the greater Boston region and in
Arlington specifically has a pervasive discriminatory effect on various protected classes. A lack of housing
options, few opportunities for new development, and competition for housing by a growing population results in
rising housing costs. Single-family home and condominium costs respectively rose 36% and 29% in Arlington
between 2008 and 2018, a period of relatively stagnant wage growth. A through accounting of housing costs
can be found in Appendix B: Housing Characteristics and Costs on page 118.
A surface-level reading of the market would find that market conditions affect all residents equally, but that
insight would be inadequate. Because several protected classes face lower incomes in the labor market and have
less wealth overall, they are less able to compete in this overheated housing market. This inability to compete for
expensive housing especially affects people with disabilities, families with children, the elderly, and people of
color. The net effect of this market-based discrimination is the same as explicitly state-sanctioned discrimination:
Households from protected classes are excluded from the Arlington housing market, and therefore excluded from
the Arlington community.
Members of protected classes who do find housing in Arlington sometimes compromise their housing needs in
order to find a place to live in the community. One resident who participated in a focus group for this plan
stated: “You need to weigh what you’re willing to give up to afford a place.” Another participant concurred:
“[With] the places that