Since its inception in 1969, the Community Development Corporation of Boston, Inc. has been at the forefront of urban economic development. The CDC of Boston grew out of the Model Cities Program, a national Housing and Urban Development initiative of the 1960s. Boston was one of several major cities in the United States selected as part of this experiment to tackle the array of problems causing the deterioration of inner-city businesses and neighborhoods.
The CDC of Boston has consistently recognized the need for long-term industrial and commercial development. The organization's primary focus has been to encourage businesses to develop sites in inner-city neighborhoods. To accomplish this, in the early 1970s, the CDC of Boston entered into a partnership with the City of Boston's Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (EDIC). With the support of the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), BankBoston, and the Ford Foundation, the CDC of Boston worked to develop the Crosstown Industrial Park.
