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From an Intern’s Desk: All Kinds of Planning

Jul 29, 2015

Catie Ferrara, Community Planning Intern

When I started my internship in the BRA’s Community Planning group, I knew it would offer a chance to expand and practice my skills. As much as I’d considered “event planning” something I already had down, in the last few weeks I’ve learned I had no idea the amount of preparation and people it takes to create an event and initiative open to a whole city. And I find myself working on two.

This week, BRA planning teams are hosting two open house events. The first, which took place yesterday at the Brookside Community Health Center, kicked off a study on the future of the Washington Street Corridor in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury. It was a packed house (as you can see from the photo), with over 200 people attending and discussing their goals for the future of the area.

Tomorrow, on Thursday, July 30, at the Iron Workers Local 7 Building, the agency is launching a planning study for the Dorchester Avenue area in South Boston with a similar event. Both open houses feature information on the planning studies, maps and data showing what’s happened recently in each area, and activities that let local residents, business owners, and others share how they see the areas now and envision the future.

I’ve been looking forward all summer to meeting the people who care about these places and want to participate in the planning process. This internship offers an incredible opportunity to build on my academic research that’s focused on creative public engagement strategies and practices.

To get there, though, I first assisted with the essentials of event planning: I worked with teams of BRA community planners to determine the format of each open house and what information and questions agency staff will present. I helped create advertisements for the open houses that ran in the Metro and neighborhood newspapers (maybe you caught them in your mailbox or along your commute!). I assisted in outreach to other public agencies, elected officials, and organizations to get the word out about these initiatives and make sure everyone knows how to get involved. And I collaborated with other agencies and community organizations to secure resources and outreach to welcome Boston’s Spanish-speaking residents at these events. I’ve gotten to work across departments at the BRA, learning how Communications, Research, GIS, and graphic design experts are all needed to launch planning studies and public events.

I’ve been able to spend a little time outside of City Hall as well. Both open houses include a lot of data, facts, and figures, but nothing tells you about a place like spending time there. I’ve visited both corridors several times with BRA staff who serve those neighborhoods. My tasks involved photographing and cataloging existing conditions, including business activity, construction, and public space. Both areas have experienced changes recently that I’m glad I got to see up close; it was especially interesting to photograph progress on the demolition of the Casey Overpass at the southern end of the JP/Roxbury study area. In August, I’ll get to learn more about both areas when the BRA hosts ”walk-shops” – you guessed it, walking neighborhood tours – and other activities with public participation.

This week I’ve gotten to see a lot of the work I’ve helped with come together at these events. After this, I’ll have a few weeks left in my internship to help the BRA planners – in partnership with other city and state agencies, and public advisory groups for both projects – transition from event planning to a community planning process.

As an intern in the middle of a graduate degree, I know I’m supposed to be working on a little personal career planning as well... (Any ideas for a Master’s thesis?) Maybe after this busy summer!

Catie Ferrara is a Community Planning Intern at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. She is sharing her experiences during the summer of 2015.

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From an Intern’s Desk: All Kinds of Planning

Jul 29, 2015

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