Boston’s changing demographics are stimulating a shift in leadership. Boston continues to grow in racial, ethnic and linguistic as well as generational diversity: according to the 2005 American Community Survey, people of color comprise more than 52% of the population, nearly one-third of Bostonians were born outside of the US; close to 33% of Bostonians are between the ages of 20 and 35; and among 14-17 year olds, people of color comprise 75% of the cohort. These demographic changes are creating civic mechanisms to support new, representative leadership throughout Greater Boston and Massachusetts:
- Baby Boomers—currently the region’s de facto stewards—are beginning to devise civic mechanisms to “pass the torch” to a new generation. Established professional, political and social networking organizations like The Partnership, The Boston Club and the City of Boston’s Onein3 are being supplemented with newer civic engagements such as the New Leadership Pipeline Strategy Group and the Initiative for Diversity in Civic Leadership. These initiatives are providing a roadmap to transfer civic stewardship from the “Boomers” to a younger generation of leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors
- Political leadership is becoming more diverse at the top. Recent top-level, high-profile elections have boosted political leaders who reflect the racial and gender diversity of the greater population. These include the election of the first Asian American City Councilor-at-large, Sam Yoon, the first African American Governor, Deval Patrick, and the first female Attorney General, Martha Coakley. However, race and gender diversity has yet to trickle down throughout all levels of political leadership. The McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies' Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy issued a report showing that of the 10 cities and towns in Greater Boston with the highest percentage of residents of color—41%—only 9% of elected leaders and 15.5% of appointed officials were of color.
- Following the loss of major banking and financial institution headquarters—FleetBoston, John Hancock and Gillette—new corporate, nonprofit, political, academic and hospital leaders are emerging to fill civic leadership roles through new initiatives such as the John LaWare Leadership Forum, the Regional Innovation Summit, Global Massachusetts 2015, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative, and the Mass Technology Leadership Council.
The increased grantmaking capacity of the region’s charitable foundations is being overwhelmed by the growth in registered nonprofits in need, but the sector is building more collaborative organizational structures for mutual support. The growth in the number of Massachusetts’ nonprofits has outpaced the grantmaking capacity of Massachusetts’ largest foundations, despite recent increases in assets and charitable giving (See Indicator 1.10.3). A 2005 MassINC report shows that 75% of Massachusetts’ nonprofits are less than 25 years old, with 20% established since 2000 and 60% of the reporting an annual income of less than $250,000. Organizations such as massnonprofitnet.org, DotWell, and the Roxbury Cultural Network are building a culture of collaboration among nonprofits and providing infrastructure and shared benefits to ensure the future strength of the “third sector.”
Changes in the institutional landscape are making the city and region more welcoming to newcomers and people with disabilities. In Greater Boston, 21 linguistically and ethnically focused newspapers are published (See Indicator 1-8-2), while ethnic restaurants and markets offer an increasingly wide variety of cuisines. Banks and hospitals offer multi-lingual seminars, brochures and staff. Community centers—such as East Boston’s Harborside—provide Spanish-speaking small business seminars. Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty instituted weekly Spanish classes so fellow councilors can learn to “speak to a changing Boston.” The Office of New Bostonians is making the city more navigable and inclusive by publishing city service guides in 8 languages and sponsoring the New Bostonians Vote Campaign to increase civic participation. Established organizations are promoting new means of providing translation services, such as Speak Easy which provides cell phone based translation services through the Asian Community Development Corporation.
Adaptive Environments (AE), an international nonprofit based in Boston, is making the City more physically accessible through “universal design,” or “design for all,” principles. AE has worked on hundreds of projects in Boston-area schools, hospitals, municipal and state government facilities, and commercial properties to create a physical environment that welcomes and supports people of all abilities. Click here to see a list of selected Adaptive Environments projects since 1985.
While the number of Boston’s registered voters is only inching higher, civic participation and voting rates are increasing dramatically among Boston’s residents of color and foreign-born citizens. The total number of Bostonians registered to vote increased by only 7% between 2000 and 2006. Yet in neighborhoods and precincts with a large population of New Bostonians and people of color, voter registration and turnout rates increased steadily, sometimes by double digits. According to MassVOTE, precincts in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Jamaica Plain saw increases in voter registration and turnout as high as 21% between the 2001 and 2005 City elections, and 25% between the 2002 and 2006 state-wide elections. Neighborhoods such as Uphams Corner, Chinatown, and Grove Hall and Dudley showed the greatest percentage change in voter turnout (See Indicator 1.4.1).
Income inequality is widening—a reflection of the region’s knowledge economy: those with more education are gaining while those with less education are falling behind. More than 40% of Bostonians hold a Bachelor’s degree, according to the 2005 American Community Survey. Yet Boston continues to grapple with educational disparity. In 2005, the income gap between Bostonians with a college education and those with only a high school diploma amounted to almost $25,000. This follows the trend of the 1990’s when—in Boston and the nation as a whole—those with a Bachelor’s degree or higher saw income gains of more than 20%, while the incomes of those with less education were stagnant or falling.
Greater Bostonians surveyed experience a high quality of life despite barriers. A 2006 survey conducted by the United Way of Massachusetts Bay entitled Living the Dream, found that 71% of Greater Bostonians rated their quality of life as “good” to “excellent,” and identified housing, education, and public safety as important factors in determining quality of life. While about two-thirds of Greater Bostonians feel the American Dream is “somewhat broken,” 68% feel they are personally achieving the American Dream. Compared to the US as a whole, Greater Bostonians are more likely than the rest of the country to believe the American dream is alive and personally attainable. These findings are consistent with a 2003 survey conducted by MassINC, The Pursuit of Happiness: A Survey on the Quality of Life in Massachusetts, which found that 25% of the state’s population—if given the chance—would leave the Bay State, but that 71% of Massachusetts residents and 73% of Greater Bostonians rated their quality of life as “good” to “excellent.” This suggests, however, that more than 25% of Bostonians and about 30% of Bay State residents rate their situation as “poor.”
Greater Boston continues to be the hub of volunteerism in the Bay State. Some reports suggest that Massachusetts’ rate of volunteering may be stagnant or falling, but the number of volunteer hours committed by Bostonians continues to rise. According to Boston Cares (the largest volunteer organization in Boston) between 2002 and 2006, its volunteers increased by 225% and hours volunteered rose 200% to a total of 39,000, while its partnerships with Boston’s schools, nonprofits and corporate teams also increased. However, a 2006 study by the Corporation for National & Community Service shows that while volunteering rates in Massachusetts increased from 22.8% in 2002 to 28.2% in 2004, in 2005 rates declined slightly to 27% and Massachusetts ranked 36th out of 50 states (See Indicator 1.2.3).
Technology is democratizing Bostonians’ access to information. Once innovative but now ubiquitous technologies like the personal computer, the Internet and the iPod continue to create forums for the sharing of ideas. New media sources like Internet blogging allow new voices and opinions to be heard and are increasingly accepted by traditional media. Podcasting, which has been adopted by NPR local affiliate WBUR, allows listeners to access news and information in their on-the-go lifestyles. The Boston Main Streets WiFi Initiative already provides free Internet access in 28 public libraries and in several Main Street districts such as Roslindale and Washington Gateway, with plans for expansion into West Roxbury, Hyde Park and Mission Hill. Following the release of the report Boston Unplugged: Mapping a Wireless Future, which highlighted several for-profit, nonprofit and public sector strategies for building WiFi infrastructure as a community investment tool, in early 2006, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced the creation of a WiFi Task Force to address the potential for wireless Internet access throughout Boston (see Technology Highlights).
Traditional forms of sharing of information—like newspapers—are being squeezed and downsized. The growth and popularity of new technologies are squeezing the traditional bastion of information sharing, the newspaper. Over the past decade, the city’s two major newspapers have been cut and consolidated. With Massachusetts daily newspaper sales down 6% in 2006, both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald attribute their decreasing circulation to increasing on-line readership. The decline in readership has also decreased the quality and diversity of voices represented in the newspapers. In a 2005 report, the Knight Foundation found that between 1990 and 2005 the loss of reporters due to revenue loss also decreased newsroom diversity. While the Boston Globe reported 20% non-white staff in 2005—its highest percentage in 15 years—the Boston Herald reports just 5.5%, down from a high of 11.2%.