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Looking for information on MAPC’s official meetings and legal notices? Find it here.

Feb
28
Thu
2019
Community Listening Session @ Memorial Building - Nevins Hall
Feb 28 @ 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Some issues are bigger than one neighborhood, city, or town. Transportation, housing, climate, jobs, equity, and more.

That’s why your community is part of Greater Boston’s next long-term regional plan, MetroCommon 2050, which is now being developed.

The first step is for us to learn what you think. What you want the region to be like, long term.

Please join us for this drop-in, interactive, expo-style listening session. No lectures, no presentations. Displays and activities about the region and interesting ways for you to tell us what you care about.

For interpretation and other accommodations, please contact Iolando Spinola at 617.933.0713 by Feb. 21.

Registration is encouraged so we have a rough head count, but not required.

Mar
14
Thu
2019
Lower Mystic Regional Working Group Report Release @ Knights of Columbus
Mar 14 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Join us for the release of the Lower Mystic Regional Working Group: Planning for Improved Transportation and Mobility in the Sullivan Square Area report.
Join MassDOT Secretary Stephanie Pollack, Boston Transportation Commissioner Gina Fiandaca, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, and Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone to learn about the transportation recommendations for this area and the next steps to improve mobility.
The Lower Mystic Regional Working Group (LMRWG) has been studying options to improve transportation in an area encompassing parts of Boston, Everett, and Somerville and centered on the transportation hub of Sullivan Square, which has seen considerable development activity in recent years.
Although the Encore Casino in Everett is the most well-known site, other planned large-scale development proposals in the area have the potential for broad impacts on congestion in the region. The LMRWG was formed by MassDOT to study the effects these future developments may have on the entire area, identify opportunities to improve mobility, and to develop short- and long-term transportation infrastructure and policy recommendations for improving transportation in and around Sullivan Square.
The Working Group consists of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation; the cities of Boston, Everett, and Somerville; and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). These five stakeholders were designated as the decision-making body for the Working Group. Additionally, other parties – including the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the Office of the Attorney General, Massport, the Office of Congressman Michael Capuano, and Encore Boston Harbor – have been active participants providing their input and knowledge.
Jul
1
Mon
2019
MetroCommon 2050 Community Engagement Minigrant Information Session @ MAPC
Jul 1 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am

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.

Apr
1
Wed
2020
POSTPONED: Public Art & Public Memory: Whose Stories, Whose Spaces?
Apr 1 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

We’re postponing… but! In response to the Massachusetts’s Governor’s guidance in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, we’re postponing this event. In the meantime, however, we’re still thinking about these important issues, and know you are, too. We invite you to sign up here to receive occasional emails on this and related topics. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to being in touch!


How might creative acts of remembering and imagining in public help us reframe the past and present–and see more inclusive futures?

Join the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) for a conversation that explores the power of public art to catalyze critical dialogue around public memory, representation, and belonging, and to transform public life. You’ll hear from artists, curators, and organizers who use creative strategies to reframe public memory and imagine future possibilities for more inclusive, thriving spaces and communities.

Guest Speakers:

Paul Farber – Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab and Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art and Space at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design (keynote speaker and moderator)
Erin Genia (Dakota/ Odawa) – Multidisciplinary artist, educator and cultural worker specializing in Indigenous arts and culture
Kate Gilbert – Executive Director of Now + There
Stephen Hamilton – Artist and educator, based in Boston

This event is part of a series organized by the MAPC’s Arts and Culture Department and NEFA’s Public Art Department in conjunction with MAPC’s MetroCommon 2050 planning process. This unique, cross-sector initiative brings together artists and creators, planners, and policymakers to discuss the evolving relationship among public art, public memory, and public policy and to explore how artists can envision and shape more inclusive, thriving spaces and communities in Greater Boston.

 

Apr
22
Wed
2020
Webinar: The COVID-19 Layoff Housing Gap @ Online
Apr 22 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

COVID-19-related unemployment could cause a massive housing crisis in Massachusetts. 468,000 Massachusetts residents filed unemployment claims in the first three weeks of the COVID crisis.

Who has been laid off? How many are now at risk of eviction or foreclosure? Will CARES Act assistance help? What about those who don’t qualify for federal aid? Join MAPC staff for a virtual discussion of our research brief, “The COVID-19 Layoff Housing Gap.”

On April 21, MAPC is releasing an update to “The COVID-19 Layoff Housing Gap” with the latest unemployment data.

At this webinar on April 22, MAPC Data Services Director Tim Reardon and Socioeconomic Analyst II Sarah Philbrick will discuss the updated data–and what it means for workers, municipalities, and the Commonwealth.

Click here to register for the webinar via zoom: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUqdOmqpz0qEtXLrrrw289Pw-VbcfxbAM_z

May
12
Tue
2020
Essential Trips: A COVID-19 Response Discussion for Local Transit Providers
May 12 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Local transportation providers, such as Councils on Aging, operators of municipal shuttle programs, and transportation management associations, are lifelines for many in the Boston region. The impact of COVID-19 on these essential services has been widespread. You are invited to a discussion dedicated to the needs of these transportation providers in the Boston region. This forum will be a space for providers to discuss, learn, and collaborate on COVID-19 responses.

Co-hosted by CTPS and MAPC.

RSVP Here

Learn about more COVID-related webinars here.

Jun
30
Tue
2020
Webinar: Shared Streets and Spaces—Navigating MassDOT’s New Grant Program @ Zoom
Jun 30 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Hosted in partnership with the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA) and MassDOT

Hear from MassDOT, the Barr Foundation, and the Operational Services Division on how cities and towns can apply for the new MassDOT Shared Streets and Spaces grant program.

In addition to an overview of the program from MassDOT, we will learn more about the technical assistance available through the Barr Foundation and representatives from the Operation Services Division will discuss how municipalities may purchase materials needed for their pilots using OSD’s statewide contracts.

Click here to register in advance.

Click here to learn more about MAPC’s webinars.

Nov
9
Mon
2020
Webinar: Housing Protections and Support @ Zoom Conference
Nov 9 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Join MAPC to hear from housing organizations, the Department of Housing & Community Development, and Boston and other municipalities on how to respond to residents at risk of eviction or other destabilizing forces during the pandemic.

We’ll learn about the anticipated impacts of expiring eviction moratoria, an overview of the Governor’s Eviction Diversion Initiative, and tenant rights and responsibilities. A panel will then discuss tools available to help residents stay in their homes, how to implement them, and what localities are doing to support residents experiencing housing instability during these unprecedented times.

Speakers will include:
Tim Reardon, Director of Data Services, MAPC
Chris Kluchman, Deputy Director, Community Services Division, DHCD
Tom Ambrosino, City Manager, City of Chelsea
Domonique Williams, Deputy Director, Office of Housing Stability, City of Boston
Chris Cotter, Housing Director, City of Cambridge
Keith Benoit, Community Development Planner, City of Northampton

Nov
24
Tue
2020
Webinar: Shared Winter Streets and Spaces Grant Program
Nov 24 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Jan
12
Tue
2021
Shared Streets: Looking Back, Looking Forward @ Zoom
Jan 12 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

In 2020, cities and towns throughout Greater Boston re-imagined their public spaces, converting streets and sidewalks into spaces that would promote active transportation, social distancing, outdoor dining, multimodal transit, and safe exercise.

Now, in partnership with MassDOT and the Solomon Foundation, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council is inviting cities and towns to look back at their recently-completed shared streets projects.

Please join us next Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m. for a panel discussion and Q&A on Shared Streets. Municipal representatives will reflect on the complex projects they undertook, share lessons learned, and look forward to what’s next.

PANELISTS INCLUDE:

  • Kate Fichter (moderator): Assistant Secretary for Policy Coordination, MassDOT
  • Wayne Feiden, FAICP: Director Planning & Sustainability, Northampton
  • Katrina O’Leary: Town Planner, Middleton
  • Police Chief Tom Galvin, Berlin
  • Ben Cares: Senior Planner and Project Manager, Chelsea

Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcscOmsqT8pHNcSGhLomujxws6wdxAfRJk6