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Massachusetts House and Senate Pass Comprehensive Climate Legislation

Massachusetts House and Senate Pass Comprehensive Climate Legislation  Photo by Aubrey Odom-Mabey, Unsplash For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 21 2022 The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is pleased that the Legislature has passed a comprehensive climate package that will positively impact our region’s environment, infrastructure, economy, and public health. We thank both the House and Senate […]

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Earth Week at MAPC: Events and Project Highlights

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans – 10 percent of the United States’ population – demonstrated to raise awareness of air, water, and soil pollution and to support federal and state environmental protection mandates. This remains the largest single day of protest in U.S. history.   Many point to this day – Earth Day – […]

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A Vision for Green Infrastructure in the Region

Bioswale | Photo via Aaron Volkening, Flickr Stormwater runoff is one the major contributors of pollution in our waterways on any given day. When system failures occur due to excessive precipitation, our streets and homes flood and residents are sometimes exposed to untreated wastewater – and this will become more and more of a concern […]

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End of the Legislative Session – How MAPC’s Priorities Fared

As Massachusetts’ legislative session drew to a close early Wednesday morning, many of MAPC’s legislative priorities were up for consideration. We wanted to give you a sense of how they fared. Short Term Rentals: The legislature’s bill regulating short term rentals would tax short term rentals at the hotel rate of 5.7 percent. City and […]

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What Climate Change Could Mean for Your Town’s Trees

Climate change is threatening many communities of Greater Boston and will only worsen over the course of the rest of the century if we don’t quickly accelerate our mitigation efforts. According to Climate Ready Boston, average temperatures, extreme precipitation events, and sea level rise will continue to increase over time. Climate change models make it […]

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Modern water systems: Not just a pipe dream for MA

Today is World Water Day, a day to appreciate the importance of freshwater, and focus our attention on sustainable ways for preserving this precious resource. In MAPC’s little corner of the wider world of water, we are involved in many projects that support these goals, and are currently gearing up to take a lead role […]

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Farm share: MAPC talks agriculture preservation with local growers

We held our first agricultural forum in Sudbury last night and we absolutely filled the venue!  Nearly 100 people attended the forum and the word from attendees was that it was a great success. Staff from MAPC guided the discussion on successes and challenges to agricultural practice as well as determining ways that the agency […]

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Q&A with past Charles Eliot Scholarship recipient

It’s that time of year again, when MAPC puts out a call for applications for our Charles Eliot Scholarship, awarded annually to a senior in a secondary school in the MAPC region who intends to study a planning-related field in college. Allison Phillips, a Junior studying Environmental Design at UMass Amherst, filled us in on […]

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Discover the world of planning at the MAPC Open House

Have you registered for the MAPC Open House yet? Whether you’re completely new to MAPC, or you’ve gotten to know us through a specific project in your region or area of interest, there is always more to learn about the work that we’ve been doing, through this event! In the past year, we created a […]

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Once is chance, twice is coincidence, third time is because it’s getting warmer.

The past two Halloweens have brought quite a trick to New England. Last year at this time, a Nor’Easter came around and left a path of damage from snow, flooding and power outages. This October, “Superstorm Sandy” left a similar trail of damage, with a huge economic cost as millions of people across the Eastern […]

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