Looking for information on MAPC’s official meetings and legal notices? Find it here.
The Arlington Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) is working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) on a neighborhood action plan for Arlington Heights and invite you to a community forum on May 23rd beginning at 7 p.m. at the Dallin Elementary School, 185 Florence Ave.. During the forum, representatives from DPCD and MAPC will present options for spurring neighborhood revitalization including an analysis of existing barriers to investment and potential solutions for those problems. Community participation in this meeting is key at this interactive forum.
Learn more on the Arlington, Massachusetts website.
To be notified about upcoming public meetings for the project, contact MAPC’s Cynthia Wall at cwall@mapc.org or 617-933-0756, and Ali Carter from the Town of Arlington at acarter@town.arlington.ma.us or 781-316-3095.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is now accepting applications for the MetroCommon 2050 Outreach Mini-Grant Program. We will be accepting applications and awarding mini-grants on a rolling basis until December 2020 for outreach projects to be completed between now and Spring 2021. Join for an information session to learn more! Also available via webinar.
Join MAPC on Wednesday, September 11, from 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM, for a free webinar on our new white paper, Hot, Cool, Clean: Clean Heating and Cooling Opportunities for Massachusetts Municipalities.
Across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, municipalities are embracing clean heating and cooling systems as important tools for reducing their energy costs and their greenhouse gas emissions. With recent technological advancements and evolving markets, air-source heat pumps, ground-source humps, and solar thermal have emerged as viable alternatives to fossil-fuel heating systems. Hot, Cool, Clean: Clean Heating and Cooling Opportunities for Massachusetts Municipalities highlights the technologies that are providing municipalities with cost-effective, low-carbon solutions for their heating and cooling needs. Join MAPC for this webinar to learn more about the incentives available to municipalities interested in clean heating and cooling and to hear from municipal leaders who have installed these systems.
Join MAPC to learn how to use our new Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool and Step-by-Step Guide. This virtual training will help municipal staff and volunteers understand the basics of developing a GHG inventory, where they can go to gather the data for their community, and how to understand the data once you’ve completed the Tool.
Launched by the Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), the Neighborhood Emergency Housing Support Program provided funding to community-based organizations (CBOs) with cultural and linguistic competency to outreach to residents about available housing stability resources. Additional funding support for the program was provided by The Boston Foundation (TBF) and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay.
MAPC analyzed the effectiveness of emergency rental relief and the role CBOs play in making residents aware of resources.
Attend this webinar to hear from CHAPA, TBF, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, MAPC, and CBO representatives about this program and recommendations forward.
Register here!
We invite you to join the MetroWest Collaborative at MAPC for our annual trails forum. Our host this year is the City of Framingham. The forum will provide an update of regional trail accomplishments and share progress in Framingham for linking the downtown, Farm Pond, Cushing Park and other City destinations with a connected trail network.
The event includes breakfast, a welcome by Mayor Sisitsky, several presentations, and a walking tour of trail projects adjacent.
Specific milestones to be celebrated this year:
- The City recently completed the purchase of the CSX right-of-way to extend the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail into Framingham
- Purchase agreement for ~50 acres of conservation land on the Framingham/Sherborn line that will provide key trail connections
- The East Coast Greenway has relocated their route in 2023 to pass through Framingham
Optional afternoon walking tours look at two additional locations in Framingham where we are looking to create a continuous shared use path between the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the Upper Charles Trail
Agenda:
8:15 a.m. – Breakfast and mingling
9:00 a.m. – Welcome and Introductions
9:15 a.m. – Metrowest Greenway status report from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council
10:00 a.m. – Framingham Trails Focus
11:00 a.m. – Walking Tour of current and proposed trail projects (about 2 miles long adjacent to Cushing Park). The tour will include the following projects or trails:
- Sudbury Aqueduct
- Chris Walsh Trail
- Framingham Station Access
- Development projects and trail potential
12:30 p.m. – Formal event ends with additional optional walking tours after lunch
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch Break for those continuing the afternoon tours
Afternoon Walking Tours:
Walking Tour #1 at 1:30 p.m. – South Framingham to Sherborn (Meet at Bates Park on Bates Road)
Walking Tour #2 at 3:00 p.m. – Bruce Freeman across Route 9 to Framingham State University (Meet at Oak St in front of Village Hall)
In collaboration with MAPC’s Public Health Department, the Equitable Engagement with Community Liaisons webinar will explore how cities are using community-led planning to broaden and deepen engagement with residents. You will hear about projects in three Massachusetts cities leading with equitable community engagement:
- Shawn Luz, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Framingham
- Emily Sullivan, Climate Change Program Manager, City of Somerville
- Richard Harding, Manager, BIPOC Men’s Health and Community Engagement Cambridge Public Health Department