Mayor Walsh, BPDA invite residents to PLAN: East Boston Pins with a Planner
Feb 10, 2020
Mayor Walsh and the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) invite community members to attend PLAN: East Boston’s Pins with a Planner event on Wednesday, February 12 from 6:30-8:00 PM at Central Park Lanes located at 10 Saratoga Street in East Boston. The family friendly event provides residents of all ages with an informal opportunity to learn more about the ongoing planning study and discuss the future of the neighborhood with BPDA and City staff. Attendees are encouraged to engage with BPDA and City staff about the planning study to participate in bowling.
“A neighborhood plan should reflect the voices in the community, and that’s why for each planning study, we’re meeting residents where they are and providing opportunities to become involved,” said Mayor Walsh. “I encourage all residents to share their ideas and opinions by attending a meeting, asking questions and lending your voice to this process.”
Since PLAN: East Boston was announced, BPDA staff have facilitated and participated in over 120 events at different hours of the day in order to fit various schedules and meet people where they are in different locations throughout the neighborhood. In addition to planners, the PLAN: East Boston team includes a community engagement manager who focuses on building relationships and reaching out to new voices in the community.
Thus far, events have included an ongoing Chat with a Planner series with a Popsicles with a Planner, Pupusas with a Planner and Pizza with a Planner series, neighborhood walking tours with BPDA staff in six different areas of the neighborhood, open house style meetings, one-on-one meetings with residents, neighborhood association meetings and specific public meetings on open space, transportation, affordable housing and small businesses in East Boston.
Guided by Imagine Boston 2030 and several city-wide strategic plans, PLAN: East Boston works with the community to produce a framework to predictably shape the future of East Boston and identify opportunities to preserve, enhance and grow. Specifically, the planning initiative will update East Boston Master Plan, produce urban design guidelines, recommend updates to East Boston zoning and advise immediate- to long-term improvement projects for the neighborhood’s transportation network.
PLAN: East Boston builds on the unprecedented number of planning studies taken place under Mayor Walsh. Currently, there are neighborhood planning studies moving forward in Charlestown, Downtown, Dorchester’s Glover’s Corner, Mattapan, Newmarket, and Allston-Brighton’s Western Avenue. Since 2014, planning guidelines have been passed for PLAN: JP/Rox, PLAN: South Boston Dorchester Avenue and PLAN: Nubian Square, formerly known as PLAN: Dudley Square. In coordination with City staff, the BPDA is also conducting transportation studies such as the Allston-Brighton Mobility Study and South Boston Seaport Strategic Transit Plan, and neighborhood-level climate resiliency planning across the city.
Each strategic plan is guided by Imagine Boston 2030, Boston’s first city-wide master plan in 50 years aimed at guiding growth. Imagine Boston 2030 prioritizes inclusionary growth and puts forth a comprehensive vision to boost quality of life, equity and resilience in every neighborhood across the City. In addition to individual neighborhood planning studies, there are a number of city-wide planning initiatives currently underway looking at transportation, climate resilience and affordable housing.