Sources & Methodology

All data used in this analysis comes from publicly available government sources. Every link goes directly to the original dataset or document — you can verify anything we show.

Boston Planning Department — Neighborhood Housing ↗

The city's official page for the Neighborhood Housing Zoning Initiative — meeting schedule, draft maps, comment submission, and contact information

https://www.bostonplans.org/neighborhood-housing?utm_source=westroxburyzoning&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=sources_top

Proposed Zoning Districts (City GIS Layer) ↗

Official proposed zoning polygon layer from Boston Planning — used to assign each parcel its proposed district (RD-2, RD-3, RD-4, etc.) via spatial join

https://gis.bostonplans.org/hosting/rest/services/Neighborhood_Housing_Zoning_Subdistricts/FeatureServer/0

Boston GIS Parcels ↗

Parcel boundaries, lot area, current zoning district assignments

https://data.boston.gov/dataset/parcels-20231

City of Boston Assessor Data (FY2026) ↗

Building type, year built, units, roof structure, living area

https://data.boston.gov/dataset/property-assessment

Draft Zoning Text — Neighborhood Housing ↗

Proposed dimensional tables, district definitions, transition rules (July 2026 draft)

https://www.bostonplans.org/neighborhood-housing?utm_source=westroxburyzoning&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=sources_draft

MassGIS Road Network ↗

Street centerlines used for block definition algorithm

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massgis-data-massachusetts-department-of-transportation-massdot-roads

Boston Rooftop & Building Footprint Data ↗

Building footprints, roof elevation, highest point elevation

https://data.boston.gov/dataset/boston-buildings-with-roof-breaks

Current Zoning Code (Article 56) ↗

Current West Roxbury Neighborhood District dimensional requirements (Table D)

https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_zoning/0-0-0-18508

Methodology

Each parcel is analyzed by joining GIS boundary data with assessor records, applying current zoning rules from Article 56, then computing proposed zoning outcomes based on the draft text.

Setback estimates are derived from building footprint position relative to parcel boundary — these are approximations, not survey-grade measurements.

All 21 calculation formulas (B1–B21) are documented in the project repository. The full pseudocode is available on GitHub.

Official Resources

Boston Planning Department — Neighborhood Housing ↗ — the city's official page for the proposal, meetings, and public comment

Boston Neighborhood Development ↗ — the department overseeing housing policy

Analyze Boston (data.boston.gov) ↗ — the city's open data portal