PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Housing affordability and availability challenges affect all 32 municipalities in Berkshire County, but the ways they manifest can vary.
For Black people living in Berkshire County, the “housing crisis” isn’t new. Long before the pandemic-induced market changes sent housing prices climbing up the income scale, Black people in the county, and across the nation, faced barriers that kept homeownership and its wealth-generating benefits out of reach for many.
Two years ago, the Berkshire Branch of the NAACP released a report that detailed the history of redlining and other discriminatory housing practices in Pittsfield’s West Side neighborhood.