The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America’s post-eviction move to another JP location is good news for the local nonprofit sector, for the Jackson Square redevelopment, and for the stability of a nationally important organization that called out predatory lending before it was hip to do so—including when it was happening right here out of a Countrywide Centre Street office.
However, it is troubling to see affordably oriented redevelopment at one end of JP becoming a safety net for casualties of market-rate gentrification development occurring at the other end. And there is obvious irony in NACA, which battled the housing bubble, being booted by a project with eye-popping rents in its own community.
The bigger picture is a city that lacks master planning or most any modern zoning concepts. JP is essentially being rezoned bit by bit through the City’s reactionary, myopic process, with disregard for the impact on existing success stories such as NACA. As Mayor Walsh’s administration settles in, we look forward to changes on that front. And 20 years after the last JP zoning code was written, it may well be time for a new edition.