Inclusionary housing refers to the units that private developers must provide within any new or rehabbed building with 8 or more units. Unlike SCC's projects, these units do not rely on public funding. But more importantly, these units are integrated into the development, avoiding the "poverty pockets" that 100% subsidized projects tend to create. Those living in these units associate with a wider variety of people, and can form the connections important in moving out of poverty.

When Union Square rezoned a couple of years ago, SCC advocated strongly for a higher inclusionary housing percentage. Everywhere else in the city, developers must make 12.5% of the units inclusionary, but in the areas slated for the most intensive development, such as in Union Square and Boynton Yards, the percentages are 15% or 17.5%. If and when the Green Line comes to Union Square, whatever construction it spurs will automatically produce this percentage of new affordable housing.