Massachusetts
Have We Been Wasting Affordable Housing Money?
It might seem like 10, or even 30, years is a long time to require affordability—until it's over and your public investment is lost.
Somerville, MA to Test the Benefits of Self-Parking Cars
Audi and Somerville will begin testing self-parking cars in 2018. Imagine the possibilities.
Development Debate Draws Political Lines in Massachusetts
A Boston Globe columnist comes down strongly in favor of a mixed-use project in a Boston suburb, and laments the obstacles facing smart growth in this and other, similar, communities.
Cambridge Studying its Vulnerability to Climate Change
The Cambridge Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment is based on detailed climate projections, heat island mapping, and precipitation driven flood modeling. Over 1,000 physical assets and social factors are assessed for vulnerability.
Somerville, MA, an Urban Lab for Mobility
In Somerville, Massachusetts, Audi is working in partnership with the city and the Federal Realty Investment Trust, a developer, to build the infrastructure to test two new technologies, Car-to-X technologies and automated parking.
How Transportation Network Companies Could Improve Paratransit Services
An interesting pitch in Boston: use transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft to provide paratransit services.
Offshore Wind Power Picks Up Momentum Along the Atlantic Coast
The potential for offshore wind power along the Atlantic Coast has moved closer to reality in fits and starts. Recent leases, however, indicate what the future of the industry could looks like.
Something's Missing in Boston's Reinvented Seaport
Boston would hardly seem capable of resembling "Anytown, USA" but that might be precisely what's happening in the Seaport neighborhood of the city's waterfront.
Ultimate Tech Guide to Boston
Whether you're a lifelong resident of Boston, just moving there, or simply passing through, this guide has 18 apps and services for navigating and enjoying the city life to its fullest.
A Citizen's Wish List for Boston Transportation
As part of the city's long-term Go Boston 2030 plan, residents were consulted about what improvements they would like to see. Answers included an end to fatal crashes and better-integrated, more frequent transit.
High-Tech Lego Model Provides Interactive Transit Planning Test Bed
The process of building tactile models of neighborhoods as tools for planning outreach just got an upgrade with a high-tech, interactive Lego model built for the Boston area.
How to Build a Real-Time LED Display of Your City's Transit System
One MIT student's love of transit means no one in his house will ever miss the T.
Boston Mayor Considering Shoup-Style Makeover for Downtown Parking
Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Chris Osgood, the latter Boston's new "chief of streets," are looking to San Francisco as a model of dynamic parking.
Massachusetts Could Be Next State to Adopt a Road Usage Charge
In the wake of voter rejection of automatic indexing of the state gas tax, Massachusetts legislators may do away with the tax altogether. They are considering a trial of the Oregon model of road usage charge.
Cambridge Looking to Value Capture Transit Funding
The city of Cambridge is proposing a new transportation enhancement fund that would charge developments to fund upgrades Red Line’s Kendall/MIT Station or enhanced bus service.
Pricetag for MBTA's Green Line Extension Jumps $1 Billion
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is scrambling to resolve a major cost overrun for the planned Green Line extension—in peril is potential rail service to one of the most densely populated cities in the country.
Somerville Reaches for Carbon Neutrality by 2050
The city has launched a program of collaboration with the green tech industry.
A Really, Really Big Fuel Cell Vehicle Possibly Coming to the Bay Area
This vehicle would be larger than a Hummer, a bus, and even an 18-wheeler. Then again, it would not travel on land. The proposal goes by an appropriate acronym: SF-BREEZE. Think fresh air over the bay.
Lessons in Waterfront Revitalization from Boston and Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh's Riverlife recently hired Vivien Li from the Boston Harbor Association. Li's career trajectory helpfully informs the kinds of decisions that drive good waterfront planning.
Foundations for First U.S. Offshore Wind Power Towed to Construction Site
Last week the foundations for five wind turbines were towed into place off Block Island, 13 miles east of Rhode Island in the Atlantic Ocean. Scheduled to go online in 2016, they will be the first offshore wind turbines in the United States.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
