As the Non-White share of the region’s population increases from 18% to 30% by 2030, more municipalities would reflect this growing racial diversity. Suburban communities that have fallen far behind the region in terms of diversity will keep pace; the gap between local and regional diversity will shrink. No race or ethnicity will experience housing discrimination anywhere in the region; as a result, there will be less disparity in homeownership rates and distribution of Non-White renters or homeowners.

Currently, most Non-White residents are concentrated in a small number of urban municipalities. As of 2000, 16 largely urban municipalities comprised 36% of the region’s total population but 76% of its Non-White population. Meanwhile, the vast majority of suburban communities are dramatically less diverse than the population of the region as a whole. From 1990 – 2000, the Non-White share of the region’s population grew from 13% to 18%. However, the Non-White population in 135 municipalities
grew very slowly (<5%) or not at all. As a result, disparate racial distribution in the region became worse.

Some of this segregation may result from the economic disparities between different races, but some may also be due to discriminatory lending practices that persist in the region. In 2006, prime lenders (those offering standard interest rates and terms) denied loan applications for home purchases about 2.5 times as often when applicants were Black or Hispanic as they did when applicants were white. In Greater Boston, for example, 2006 denial rates were 19% for Blacks, 17% for Hispanics, and 7% for Whites. These disparities persisted across all income groups, but actually worsened among the financially well-off. Black applicants earning up to $30,000 per year were denied loans at 2.2 times the rate of their white counterparts. Black applicants earning between $120,000 and $150,000 were denied loans at 3.9 times the rate similarly affluent whites were. The disparity for Hispanics is worst at the $90,000 to $120,000 income range, where they are denied at 3.5 times the rate of their White counterparts.

Objectives:

• In each city and town, the gap will be decreasing between the Non-White proportion of municipal population and the Non-White proportion of regional population
• .There will be no disparity in home purchase loan denial rates for all race and ethnic groups, after adjusting for income levels.