HOUSINGONGOING
Displacement by Design
Zoning variances. Developer donations. Neighborhoods erased.
Opened April 2026
Updated May 25, 2026
1 documents · 203 pages
Key Findings
—89% of variance approvals for top-5 developers granted within 6 months of contributions
—Average displacement: 340 households per approved development
—Approval rate for top developers: 94% vs 41% for all others
—Pattern concentrated in three council districts with highest developer contributions
An investigation into how zoning variance approvals were systematically granted to politically connected developers, displacing thousands of residents from three city neighborhoods.