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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Arlington Fair Housing Action Plan

Displacement
“Displacement” describes any circumstance when a resident leaves their home and/or community against their
wishes, often due to costs. Household-level displacement can occur when individuals can no longer afford their
housing costs, either due to rising rents, taxes, or other costs. Community-level displacement occurs when many
similar households are displaced, and the households taking their place are dissimilar to the initial households.
Community-level displacement is called gentrification when many higher-income households replace lower-income
households.
Arlington has been a high-cost area within the greater Boston region for a long time, making community-level
gentrification-related displacement less likely than in historically lower-cost communities. However, as prices rise,
the lower-cost homes that do exist in Arlington will likely be repositioned for higher-income occupants. This could
create a subtle shift in the demographics of the Arlington community, including the displacement of those
protected classes with lower incomes, including the elderly and people with disabilities. Public engagement
participants expressed a concern that rising taxes would lead to displacement of older households specifically.