Strategies to develop and preserve affordable housing along the Green Line extension for the Somerville Community Corporation

Abstract

This thesis explores the history and mission of the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) within the context of the City of Somerville, and the factors that have contributed to its successes and failures in the past, present, and most importantly future. SCC and the City are at a critical moment of change and time is of essence. With the proposed investment of the Green Line extension through Somerville, there are tremendous opportunities for SCC to expand its base, create institutional change, and take on more ambitious development and preservation projects. However, this will only happen if SCC becomes more effective. Therefore the analysis in this thesis focuses not only on SCC's internal and external challenges, but also on ways that collective action on the part of the organization, residents, and the City is needed to take advantage of the transit investment to produce successful development and preservation projects. Interviews and observation show that SCC is most successful at fulfilling its mission, meeting the needs of low-income residents, and impacting political institutions, when there is coordination across its external activities and internal departments, and by including residents in both decision-making and governance. This thesis provides the necessary organizational and development strategies to synergistically reinforce SCC's effectiveness at supporting low and moderate-income residents in Somerville.