Harvard also has owned 1/6 of Allston since the 1920’s. People act like additional 1/6 they bought 1990-2016 made huge changes to neighborhood housing prices, but Allston was gentrifying regardless. CSX was moving out, which inevitably was going to lead to Houghton shutting down their rail yard. New Balance was growing right on Allston’s doorstep. That’s what brought Boston Landing and 10-15 minute rides downtown, not Harvard.
But overall, the biggest driver of gentrification was the campaign by Eva Webster to treat half of Brighton like it is the Back Bay. You can’t replace your windows, much less build new housing, due to https://www.boston.gov/historic-district/aberdeen-architectu... . That’s what caps the growth of housing and drives prices up.
But overall, the biggest driver of gentrification was the campaign by Eva Webster to treat half of Brighton like it is the Back Bay. You can’t replace your windows, much less build new housing, due to https://www.boston.gov/historic-district/aberdeen-architectu... . That’s what caps the growth of housing and drives prices up.