Planning 101 Blog

Successful Community Engagement Exercise at Everett’s Village Fest

Posted on September 25, 2017 at 3:38 pm. Written by Kit Un

This past Saturday, September 23rd, the MAPC team held a very successful community participation exercise for the update to Everett’s open space and recreation plan! The City of Everett held its 3rd annual Village Fest at the Night Shift Brewery, and the MAPC team used the opportunity to ask attendees their opinions on how to […]

Net Zero Planning: Know your Resources!

Posted on September 14, 2017 at 12:47 pm. Written by Kit Un

Webinar on Upcoming Net Zero Resources On Tuesday, September 12, MAPC’s Clean Energy Department’s Environmental Fellow, Mayra Cruz delivered a fantastic webinar on Net Planning resources that can be beneficial to many cities and towns. We had the fortunate opportunity to have Mayra with us, who put considerable time into researching and building Net Zero […]

New MAPC.org Launch

Posted on September 11, 2017 at 12:00 pm. Written by Kit Un

Welcome to the new MAPC website! We are delighted to launch this brighter, more appealing, and more usable digital home. We have put a great deal of thought into allowing easier access to our work. As we finish populating the site over the next several weeks, we want to know what you think! Please let […]

9th Annual Shannon Grant Basketball Tournament

Posted on August 14, 2017 at 12:13 pm. Written by Kit Un

Earlier this month, the Metro Mayors Coalition, facilitated by MAPC, organized the 9th Annual Shannon Grant Basketball Tournament held at Somerville High School. On Saturday, August 5th, the Metro Mayors Shannon Grant Community Safety Initiative brought together teams from Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Quincy and Revere to participate in a friendly basketball tournament. This […]

Best Practices for Streamlining Solar Permitting and Inspection Processes

Posted on July 21, 2017 at 1:59 pm. Written by Amanda Linehan

Earlier this year, MAPC was selected to participate in SolSmart, a program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative. SolSmart is a national program that recognizes communities that have taken steps to reduce solar soft costs and increase the efficiency of solar permitting and inspection processes. The program has enabled MAPC to work alongside […]

Metro Mayors Coalition Opioid Report Release

Posted on June 30, 2017 at 10:37 am. Written by Elise Harmon

On Wednesday, May 24, 2017 the Metro Mayors Coalition (MMC) hosted a forum for municipal officials responsible for developing and implementing policies and strategies that assist community members who are struggling with opioid addiction. The event featured the release of the report Addressing the Opioid Epidemic in Metro Mayors Communities. The forum brought together more than […]

Beat the Heat This Summer With Keep Cool

Posted on June 21, 2017 at 12:43 pm. Written by Elise Harmon

Just in time for the official start of summer, MAPC has rolled out its pioneering Keep Cool app. In partnership with the Metro Mayors Coalition Climate Preparedness Taskforce, MAPC soft launched this innovative new web application last summer as a resource for those who live and work in the Coalition’s 14 cities and towns in […]

Bike Sharing Programs Expand – and Not Just in Boston

Posted on June 14, 2017 at 11:31 am. Written by Elise Harmon

On May 25, 2017 Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the largest expansion of the Hubway system since 2011. In honor of the regional bike-sharing system’s plans to add over 70 new stations in Boston alone, we’re looking back at the development of bike-share in Boston – including the role MAPC has played – and […]

Piloting Bus Rapid Transit in Boston

Posted on June 7, 2017 at 1:20 pm. Written by Elise Harmon

For the past two weeks, MAPC employees have been assisting with an exciting bus rapid transit (BRT) pilot on the Silver Line. From May 22 to June 6, two staff members stood by the Temple Place bus stop outside our downtown offices every day, informing commuters and casual riders of the two-week pilot, which was […]

What We Do: Homeland Security

Posted on June 5, 2017 at 2:46 pm. Written by Elise Harmon

In the video above, Assistant Director of Municipal Collaboration Amy Reilly discusses MAPC’s Homeland Security Division. MAPC serves as Massachusetts’ Homeland Security fiduciary, distributing Federal Department of Homeland Security grants received by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to partners throughout the state. MAPC’s team manages grants given to four regional Homeland […]