Boston Housing Authority

Boston, MA

Late in 2000, the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) hired ON-SITE-INSIGHT (OSI) to assist in updating its Needs Assessment and Transition Plan.  This assignment built on the 1993 Transition Plan developed for the BHA by OSI.  The BHA owns over 14,000 units of conventional public housing.  These units are found at 58 federal developments and 17 state-funded developments.  Housing development types range from large family developments, to high-rise complexes for seniors, to newly constructed group homes for special needs populations. 

The BHA faces a number of challenges in creating accessible buildings and dwelling units.  Many older developments are built with full-height basements (old “pram rooms”) which elevate the first floor several feet above grade.  Steeply sloping grades in some neighborhoods make accessible routes difficult.  Inner city developments often lack sufficient parking, making provision of larger accessible parking spaces a difficult choice.  The state-funded developments do not have a reliable source of capital improvements funding, but must meet the same standards as the federal developments.

OSI inspected every site and a sample of buildings and units at each development using Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) criteria.  We also developed preliminary cost estimates for compliance, assisted the BHA in making presentation to HUD staff, and worked with BHA planners and architects (in association with Piltch Associates) to produce the updated Transition Plan document.  OSI and Piltch also designed and delivered a half-day accessibility training to BHA management and technical staff.