Moving Forward: Excerpt from MAPC's 2016 Annual Report
The introduction, below, to MAPC's Annual Report is an important message for the new year. To read the entire Annual Report, please check 2016.mapc.org on its yearly posting date, January 20.
Life isn't easy for folks who spend their days promoting smart growth, regional collaboration, equity, and a robust approach to climate change. But then again, the leaders and staff at MAPC are not given to easy tasks. We love the unique and historical region we call Metro Boston, and we are committed to all the people who call it home - men and women, young and old, rich and poor, residents of all sexual orientations, gender identities, racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds, people with disabilities, and all people who have recently arrived from near and far.
In 2016, MAPC continued to transform the planning field with exciting new practices - integrating arts and culture into land use projects, weaving web-based tools into local decision-making, expanding our public safety work to help address the opioid crisis, baking public health into municipal planning, and exploring the impact of automated vehicles on the region's mobility. Whether it's making the region safer, ensuring equitable access to opportunity, or planning for the effects of climate change, MAPC will continue to make sure that leaders and stakeholders have the facts and strategies they need to improve the quality of life for everyone who lives and works here.
Uncertain political times lay ahead, but MAPC remains steadfastly committed to our core values of equity and inclusion. We will work with anyone who wishes to advance the goals contained in MetroFuture -- sustainable development, preservation of our environment, a stronger and fairer economy, and a better life for everyone. We will oppose all efforts to roll back the gains we have made, and we will resist every effort to turn the residents of our region against one another, or to close the doors of our region to newcomers who can make our future even stronger. Depending on the path chosen by the federal government, the responsibility may fall to local and state leaders to demonstrate that fairness and inclusion can generate the strongest economy and the brightest future for America. We know our region's leaders will accept that challenge, and MAPC will work with them to craft the plans and policies to make that happen. No one is going to let Massachusetts go backwards.
Calendars available!
Our annual wall calendar, which features beautiful data visualizations of Metro Boston communities, is now available! If you would like to receive a copy, please email Communications Manager Amanda Linehan at alinehan@mapc.org.
We also invite you to visit the digital edition of our latest annual report at 2016.mapc.org. The annual report highlights accomplishments of the past year and specific goals for 2017, and will be available, as every year, on January 20.
Subscribe to MAPC Matters & Update All Your MAPC Subscriptions
There's no time like the New Year to get yourself organized; please take a few minutes to review your mailing list subscriptions from MAPC. Across our departments, MAPC sends out a variety of different email newsletters and updates. You may wish to unsubscribe from certain lists or subscribe to new ones -- including MAPC Matters, the general monthly newsletter that brings them all together. In the footer of this email, please select "Update Profile/Email Address." You will then receive an email containing a link to edit your subscriptions.
Thank You For Your Advocacy: DLTA Funds Released
As 2016 wraps up, we are happy to report that $2.8 million for District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) was released in mid-December. It would not have been possible without support and advocacy from all of you.
Governor Baker initially included $2 million in funding for DLTA in his FY 2017 budget. Thanks to our partners in the legislature, the House and Senate approved funding at $2.8 million for DLTA, which was later vetoed by Governor Baker's office. Due to your advocacy efforts, the legislature overturned the Governor's veto in July. Lower-than-anticipated revenue numbers over the summer made the prospects for DLTA funding seem grim. But your tireless advocacy helped demonstrate to the Governor that DLTA is critical to the work that we do with our cities and towns.
MAPC thanks you for your letters and phone calls to Governor Baker's office stressing the importance of DLTA funding for your communities, and for the region. On behalf of the Government Affairs team and the entire agency, thank you. We are so grateful for the important work you do in your communities, and we are excited to continue this partnership into 2017.
Clean Energy Update
In this issue:
MassEnergy presents MAPC with Energy Leadership Award, Gov. Baker Announces $11.4M for LED Streetlights, and more. Read the newsletter here.
Going to MMA?
Visit our booth at the MMA trade show on the weekend of January 20 to learn about all the services MAPC offers - procurement, clean energy, master plans, engagement, and more - and network with our staff! You'll also want to get your geek on with one of our two new MAPC temporary tattoos, available at our booth.
Executive Director's Report
Every month, MAPC staff help the Executive Director compile highlights of the agency's work for an Executive Director's Report to present to the Executive Committee and Council. Read the latest report here.
MAPC Awards
APA-MA's OUTSTANDING PROJECT AWARD
MAPC's Arts and Planning Toolkit won the American Planning Association - Massachusetts Chapter's Outstanding Planning Project Award. The toolkit was a project of the Inner Core Committee's Arts and Planning Working Group, and was developed and managed by Jennifer Erickson, MAPC manager of Technical Assistance Programs. Congratulations, Jenn! Check out the Toolkit here.
MASSENERGY'S ENERGY LEADERSHIP AWARD
MAPC's Clean Energy Department was awarded MassEnergy's Energy Leadership Award for its work on green municipal aggregation and commitment to local clean energy action. Congratulations to the Clean Energy team for this recognition, and specifically to Patrick Roche for leading our work on green municipal aggregation. Learn more about green municipal aggregationhere and here.
Deadlines and Opportunities
MAPC Technical Assistance Program - Call for Project Concepts
MAPC is soliciting ideas for 2017 projects. Municipalities can submit concepts for individual, community-specific, and multi-community projects. Awards are made on a rolling basis pending the availability of funding, with a batch of awards often made in the late fall and late spring of each year.
Eligible project topics include, but are not limited to housing and economic development; regionalization and shared services; public safety; public health; smart growth; climate change; clean energy; equity; fair housing; equitable transit-oriented development (E-TOD); bicycle/pedestrian mobility; environmental and resource protection; creative community placemaking; and arts and culture planning. Learn more here.
Workshop: Preparing Urban Forests in the Boston Region for Climate Change
January 24, 2017, MIT Stratton Student Center
A workshop for municipal foresters, planners, parks managers, consulting arborists, nursery professionals, and others interested in learning more about adapting forests to climate change. 5 ISA, 1 MCA CEUs.
Learn more here.
Additionally, there are still a few spots in the January 25 Adaption Planning and Practices workshop for urban forestry professionals and planners. 5 ISA, 1 MCA CEUs.
Learn more here.
Community Aggregation PLUS Program
This spring, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) launched its version of municipal aggregation, the Community Electricity Aggregation PLUS program. Through the program, cities and towns can use aggregation to help build new renewable energy facilities while still achieving competitive electricity rates and price stability. The program offers our communities the use of a competitively procured consultant, Good Energy. Learn more about the program here.
Offered by the MAPC Transportation Division in partnership with the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), the Livability Community Workshop (LCW) program's aim is to educate communities on how to incorporate livability concepts and to promote thinking about how design influences livability. LCWs can involve a broad range of topics. MAPC's 2016 workshops will focus chiefly (but not only) on parking, including zoning, parking management, pricing.
As many of you know, the Baker Administration's Community Compact program provides incentives and assistance for cities and towns to implement municipal best practices.
Among these best practices are a number of areas within MAPC's expertise, particularly energy and environment, housing and economic development, transportation and regionalization/shared services. We have provided technical assistance in these areas on hundreds of projects across the region in recent years and are eager to help our communities to develop Compact applications or provide assistance in implementing best practices.Learn more about the Community Compact here
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Massachusetts Smart Growth Conference 2017: Call for Ideas
The Massachusetts Smart Growth Conference returns to the DCU Center in Worcester on May 18, 2017. Please share your ideas for sessions and speakers that will inform the conference team as they shape the conference program. Deadline: January 13, 2017.
DEP 604b Water Quality Management Planning Grants Advance Notice
The Department of Environmental Protection plans to hold pre-RFR Informational Meetings on January 24 and January 27 to discuss potential projects before the FFY 17 604b RFR is issued in early 2017. We recommend potential respondents attend these meeting to discuss your ideas for new projects. Learn more here.
Boston Region MPO Community Transportation Technical Assistanc
e (CTTA) Program
Deadline: Rolling
The CTTA program, open to all 101 municipalities in the MPO region, provides municipal officials with technical advice on local transportation concerns such as traffic operations, safety, bicycle and pedestrian access, livability, parking, and bus stop locations. When evaluating requests for technical assistance, MPO and MAPC staff consider whether they can provide useful feedback on the municipality's particular issues and if they can do so in a financially modest, time-efficient manner.Learn more about the CTTA program and application process here.
Boston Harbor & Islands Science Symposium Call for Presenters
1.5 million dollars have been allocated for the DCR Partnership Matching Funds Program for the purpose of expanding access to recreation in the Commonwealth's parks. DCR matches partner contributions of up to and including $25,000 at 2:1, and 1:1 for contributions above $25,000.Learn more here - and remember that MAPC can help you with your proposal.
MAPC is Hiring!
We're looking for a Chief Housing Planner, Civic Web Developer, HR Manager, as well as an Economic Development Planner 1.Details here.
MAPC Insight
Vision Zero: Planning to Eliminate Traffic Fatalities
Road traffic crashes are preventable -- however, each year people, families, and communities continue to suffer. Vision Zero is an approach to transportation safety planning that sets a target of eliminating all serious injuries and deaths due to road traffic crashes. The concept focuses on how we design and operate our roadway system and how we can remove the risk of death and injury for roadway users, especially those who are most vulnerable. In the Vision Zero Planning Project, MAPC and partners are working to help cities and towns bring Vision Zero to their communities. To learn more or to provide input, please visit the project webpage.
Who Benefits (and Who Can Be Harmed) as Neighborhoods Change?
Gentrification can be a mixed blessing. It brings new investment, but can also push people out of their homes.
To better understand this dynamic, MAPC conducted a rapid Health Impact Assessment (RHIA) on the Just Cause Eviction Ordinance proposed in the City of Boston. Learn more here.
MPO Corner
Events and news from our partner in transportation planning
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) conducts federally-mandated transportation planning for Greater Boston. MAPC is one of 22 voting MPO members who endorse a long-term plan for transportation in the region, and then allocate federal and state funds toward transportation projects and studies serving people who ride, drive, walk and bike.
Upcoming MPO Staff Visit to MAGIC Subregion
MPO staff will join the Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination (MAGIC)'s January meeting at 2:30pm in Concord, completing a series of visits to each MAPC subregion. Each year, MPO staff facilitate conversations around transportation concerns and priorities and brainstorm ideas for future studies and projects for consideration in the MPO's Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). MAPC posts meeting details at mapc.org/subregions. Discover more ways to participate in the MPO's transportation planning on our calendar for federal fiscal year 2017.
MassDOT Announces Accelerated Schedule for FFY 2018-22 TIP Development
At the MPO's December 15 meeting, MassDOT representatives announced their intention to accelerate the timeline for the the production of the federal fiscal year 2018 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) in an effort to align the STIP development with the state's Capital Investment Plan (CIP). MassDOT's accelerated schedule would require that the MPO produce and adopt the Boston Region's FFY 2018-22 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) by June 1, 2017. The new schedule will be presented to the MPO board at its January 19th meeting.
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Workshops
January 4 and January 11
MPO Staff will host virtual TIP workshops on January 4 and January 11 for municipal transportation planners and engineers. MPO staff strongly encourage TIP contacts from each municipality to participate to ensure that their eligible projects are considered for federal funding. Staff has reserved specific time slots for each MAPC subregion (see table below). In addition to these allotted times, please feel free to contact Alexandra (Ali) Kleyman, TIP Manager, at akleyman@ctps.org or 857-702-3709 at any time. More information about the TIP is available on the MPO's website at ctps.org/tip.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Call-in Number: 857-702-3739
ID: 1567 | Password: 691
Call-in Number: 857-702-3739
ID: 4909 | Password: 850
NSTF 1:00 PM-2:00 PM
SWAP 10:00 AM-11:00 AM
NSPC 2:00 PM-3:00 PM
MAGIC: 1:00 PM-2:00 PM
TRIC: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
ICC: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
MWRC: 4:00 PM-5:00 PM
SSC: 4:00 PM-5:00 PM
MPO Meeting Cancelled, Staff Host Office Hours on Jan. 5
January 5: Office Hours with MPO Staff
January 19: MPO and UPWP Committee Meetings
Although the MPO cancelled its January 5 meeting, MPO Staff will still host Office Hours. You can come into our CTPS offices any time between 1:30 and 3 pm to meet with us, or call us on the phone at 857.702.3687.
The MPO board will reconvene again on Thursday, January 19 to approve two work programs: Planning for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and a Study of Promising Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies. MPO staff will also report on its efforts to develop a Pedestrian Level-of-Service Metric for the region. Finally, the MPO will also discuss representation of Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) on the MPO and an amendment to the MPO's Public Participation Program that would reduce the public comment period for certification documents from 30 to 21 days, allowing for the accelerated schedule proposed by MassDOT (discussed above).
The MPO's Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Committee is tentatively scheduled for 9:00am, immediately before the MPO meeting. The Committee will review feedback from MPO staff's fall and winter UPWP outreach and will propose study ideas for consideration in the FFY 2018 UPWP.
The MPO typically meets the first and third Thursdays of the month at the State Transportation Building Conference Rooms 2 and 3. We invite public attendance and post the agenda and materials a week in advance on the MPO's meeting calendar.
Advisory Council to Discuss Planning for Electric Vehicles
January 11
On January 11th, the MPO's Regional Transportation Advisory Council (Advisory Council) will discuss planning for electric vehicles. The Advisory Council is an independent body whose primary mission is to generate broad and timely participation that brings viewpoints and advice on transportation planning to the Boston Region MPO. Meetings are always open to the public and are held on the second Wednesday of the month. Learn more on the MPO's meeting calendar.
Stay informed about the MPO's activities and related opportunities by subscribing to the MPO's e-mailing list, MPOinfo, our blog/e-newsletter, TRANSREPORT, and our Twitter account, @BostonRegionMPO.
Accessibility, Translation, Interpretation
Your participation is important to MAPC. Call 617.933.0700 for accommodations. Advance notice (10 days) is necessary for certain accommodations.
