With the long-awaited extension of Boston's Green Line train to Somerville expected to arrive in a few years, the city has embraced a planning and development process much different from the one that "left behind some of Somerville’s worst spaces."
From neighborhoods cleared to make room for a highway to suburban-style strip malls and industrial parks, Somerville has suffered from some of the worst effects of last century's urban renewal schemes.
"As Somerville prepares for the first phase of the long-awaited Green Line extension, it’s looking to turn that old urban renewal model on its head," writes Paul McMorrow. "The city is embracing the legal powers of urban renewal to overhaul its Union Square neighborhood, but in a way that’s deeply grounded in the existing community. In the process, Somerville is demonstrating what modern city-building looks like: locally focused, reliant on public transit, and grounded in entrepreneurial culture."
“We’ve learned where urban renewal has failed,” Mayor Joe Curtatone says. “It fails when it focuses on building structures. We’re starting with a values base. If we didn’t plan, and let change act on us, we’d get change we don’t want.”
Read the full story: A game-changer for Somerville
Can Somerville, Massachusetts Keep Transit Oriented Redevelopment Affordable?
With six new Green Line stations coming to Somerville, Massachusetts in the next few years, planners and political leaders are trying to find the right balance between transit oriented redevelopment and its more expensive consequences.
Long Awaited Green Line Extension Opens Today North of Boston
The Green Line Extension project, in the works for decades, is now providing rail transit service from Boston north into Somerville.
Massachusetts Converts HOV Lane to General Purpose Lane
Road planners looking to increase capacity without adding lanes are focusing on managing existing lanes more effectively. Massachusetts has gone the opposite direction. The Conservation Law Foundation plans to hold them accountable.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
NYC DOT wants faster, more permanent street upgrades
The city is examining ways to build more concrete infrastructure without getting entangled in 'decades-long' projects.
'Something we’ve never seen before:' rising utility rates could strain city finances nationwide
Data centers, climate change and other factors have caused utility rates in the United States to increase by 38% since 2020.
Trump to overrule local leaders, lease millions of acres of America’s Pacific Island territories’ seafloors to mining companies
International law says that the Indigenous people of America’s territories have a right to prior and informed consent regarding projects that impact their countries.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello