Report: Blacks in Boston disproportionately face eviction

Almost 80 per cent of those suspended cases were in communities of colour The racial disparity in Boston evictions is part of a nationwide trend and mirrors findings in cities across the country and in Washington state. Much of the research has found that the racial composition of a neighbourhood is the most important factor in predicting neighbourhood eviction rates, even more than poverty and other neighbourhood characteristics.

Communities of colour in Boston are disproportionately affected by evictions in the city, with some of the highest rates in Black communities, according to a new report released Sunday

Seventy per cent of market-rate eviction filings occur in neighbourhoods where a majority of residents are people of colour, though only about half of rental housing is in these neighbourhoods, according to three years of data by MIT researchers and a housing justice organization. The problem has only been exasperated by the coronavirus, which saw a spike in eviction filings before the state issued a moratorium in April. Almost 80 per cent of those suspended cases were in communities of colour

The racial disparity in Boston evictions is part of a nationwide trend and mirrors findings in cities across the country and in Washington state. Much of the research has found that the racial composition of a neighbourhood is the most important factor in predicting neighbourhood eviction rates, even more than poverty and other neighbourhood characteristics.