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Transportation Equity – Target Communities
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Environmental justice areas within the MPO municipalities are specific neighborhoods with high concentrations of low-income or minority residents. More precisely, an environmental justice area is defined as one or more transportation analysis zones (TAZs)* that both (1) have a total minority (nonwhite or Hispanic) population of over 200 residents and (2) meet one or both of the following criteria:
  • Low Income: A median household income at or below 60 percent of the 2000 MPO-region median household income (60 percent of the region´s median household income of $55,800 is $33,480)
  • Minority: A population that is more than 50 percent minority
    (nonwhite or Hispanic)
For outreach and analysis purposes, the MPO has identified 28 of the most notable environmental justice areas, each of which is made up of a number of contiguous TAZs. These environmental justice areas are located in:

The municipalities of:
  • Cambridge
  • Chelsea
  • Everett
  • Framingham
  • Lynn
  • Malden
  • Medford
  • Milford
  • Peabody
  • Quincy
  • Randolph
  • Revere
  • Salem
  • Somerville
  • Waltham
The Boston neighborhoods of:
  • Allston-Brighton
  • Charlestown
  • Chinatown
  • Dorchester
  • East Boston
  • Fenway
  • Hyde Park
  • Jamaica Plain
  • Mattapan
  • Roslindale
  • Roxbury
  • South Boston
  • South End
The locations of all environmental justice areas and of the 28 noted above are shown on a map of the entire MPO region and a map of the urban core.

A summary of demographics of the 28 noted environmental justice areas can be found here.
*Transportation analysis zones, used in transportation planning, are defined based on population and on number of trips produced and attracted.