Collaborative processes structured to include the needs and expertise of citizens can lead to sustainable and effective outcomes when paired with clear policy goals, firm process constraints, and effective leadership.
Development
Posted inOpinion
A game plan for the new hybrid work reality
Boston provides an illustrative example of this principle. Characterized by a greater mix of office, residential, dining, and retail uses, the Back Bay and Seaport neighborhoods feel more vibrant than the Financial District, with its preponderance of office towers.
Posted inOpinion
A travesty in Manchester by the Sea
The battle brewing at Shingle Place Hill in Manchester by the Sea is a paradigm for what affects cities and towns across the Commonwealth.
Posted inOpinion
Planning by pieces isn’t working in Charlestown
IN THE FIELD of urban planning, a master plan is a document and policy guide designed to help communities create a vision of what they want to look like in the future. A master plan should be comprehensive and include existing development, planning initiatives, social and economic considerations regarding all facets of land use. In […]
Posted inOpinion
Real work starting now at Pier 5
THE BOSTON PLANNING and Development Agency’s decision to reject the three proposals advanced for privatization of Pier 5 in Charlestown is welcome news, but now the real work begins. The community succeeded in blocking the privatization and redevelopment of the pier and now we need to come up with a better alternative. The Boston Planning […]
Posted inOpinion
Building a city center serving six cities
QUICK QUIZ: What is the biggest growth district in Massachusetts outside of the city of Boston right now? Did you guess Kendall Square? Cambridge Crossing? Somerville’s Union Square? Watertown’s Arsenal Street? Quincy Center? Lynn’s waterfront? Revere Beach? Woburn’s Commerce Way? Waltham along Route 128? By my read, it is a place without an identity or […]
Posted inEconomy
Depoliticizing the development process in Boston
CALLS TO ABOLISH the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) go back almost to its creation. City Councilor Michelle Wu is the latest to take up the quest to rid the city of one of its most hated bureaucracies (which many know by its former name, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, or BRA). Last year, she […]
Posted inTransportation
In Newton, a super Tuesday for pro-growth side
ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL, and for some residents in Newton that meant yesterday’s Super Tuesday vote in the presidential primary took a backseat to a question of what would happen in their backyard. The affluent Boston suburb of 88,000 residents has been riven for months by a proposal for a massive mixed-use development project in the […]
Posted inThe Download
In Newton, a super Tuesday for pro-growth side
All politics is local, and for some residents in Newton that meant yesterday’s Super Tuesday vote in the presidential primary took a backseat to a question of what would happen in their backyard. The affluent Boston suburb of 88,000 residents has been riven for months by a proposal for a massive mixed-use development project in […]
Posted inTransportation
Moving on from car-as-king development
THE DESIGN DILEMMA for America’s current generation of city builders is what to do about cars, and in particular parking. Our most beloved places were built before cars became the common person’s primary means for autonomy and travel. Yet reversion to car-free design, which makes sense to reduce auto emissions and combat climate change, is […]