The Romney Framework for Building Great Communities

Douglas I. FoySecretary of Commonwealth Development

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Sprawl Means. . .

• High land consumption per person and disinvestment in cities

• Growth in daily miles of travel, nearly constant gridlock, no alternative to driving for many

• Air and water pollution• Loss of forests, farms, other open space• Low housing production, limited to McMansions• Obesity and chronic health problems• Isolation of seniors – our fastest-growing cohort

Investing in Great Cities & Towns: 10 First Steps

1. Office for Commonwealth Development

2. Fix It First/Infrastructure

3. Commonwealth Capital

4. Transit-Oriented Development

5. Development-Oriented Transportation

6. Smart Growth Zoning Act

7. City and Town Center Redevelopment

8. Highway Program: Communities First

9. Environmental Policy

10. Local Capacity Building

(1) Office for Commonwealth Development

• “Super-secretariat” linking transportation, housing, environment and energy agencies

• Ensures consistent state support for growth in cities, town centers, and other walkable, infrastructure-rich areas– Infrastructure programs, other spending, regulation

– Incentives for cities and towns to reform zoning

(2) Fix It First: Infrastructure

• MassHighway: Roads and Bridges– Priority for repair and rehabilitation of streets, roads,

structurally deficient bridges– Bridge program to be doubled

• Dep’t of Conservation and Recreation: Parks– Merger and reform of state parks agencies– Capital budget doubled in 2004

• MBTA: “State of Good Repair” program • Public Housing: Introduce private investment?

Bridges: Aging Baby Boomers

(3) Commonwealth Capital

• Common administration of discretionary capital spending to ensure– Consistency of projects with smart growth

– Alignment of municipal policies and zoning with state interest in smart growth

– Coordination of agency decision-making

• Includes economic and community development, land protection, off-street parking, wastewater infrastructure and other programs

Commonwealth Capital

• Reviviendo Gateway Project, Lawrence –Governor’s Smart Growth Leadership Award Winner

(4) Transit-Oriented Development

• Commonwealth Development/MBTA Program– Community-based master planning -- stations with

surplus MBTA property– Re-zoning by first group of communities underway

• Funding – New $30 M program for parking, pedestrian and

bicycle infrastructure, housing– $40 M for infrastructure to support early projects

• MassHousing Priority Development Fund – $100 M, including planning grants and financing

Urban Transit-Oriented Development

• Maverick Gardens Hope VI Mixed-Income Redevelopment, East Boston –Governor’s Smart Growth Leadership Award Winner

Suburban Town Center Transit-Oriented Development

• 10-12 Summer Street, Manchester –Governor’s Smart Growth Leadership Award Winner

(5) Development-Oriented Transportation

• “Fix it First” doesn’t mean “fix it only” – near-term transit and highway improvements support city- and town-center growth – Boston: Silver Line Phase III

– Worcester: Route 146

– Pittsfield: East Street

• Future transit and highway corridor projects will be conditioned on smart growth land-use plans and zoning

(6) Smart Growth Zoning Act(Chapter 40R)

• Incentives to create “smart growth zoning districts” in– City, town, village centers/commercial districts– Around transit stations– Other “smart growth” locations

• Criteria = infrastructure + walkability• Must have 8-20 units/acre, affordable units, housing

or mixed use• Incentives: State $ for re-zoning and issuing

building permits, priority in grant programs

(7) City and Town Center Redevelopment

• State Historic Preservation Tax Credit signed into law– Focus on smart growth, affordable housing– Current cap: $15 million/year

• Upper-story downtown redevelopment -- Housing Development Support Program (CDBG) funding doubled

• “Rebirth of Older Industrial Cities” project with NAIOP, Northeastern University, 12 cities– Addressing barriers to urban economic development

Revitalizing Historic Downtowns

• Amesbury –Governor’s Smart Growth Leadership Award Winner

(8) Highway Program:Communities First

• New Highway Project Development and Design Manual to incorporate principles of– Context-sensitive design

– Accommodation of all modes (inc. peds, bikes, transit)

– Traffic calming

• Being produced through open, collaborative process

• Goal: most progressive manual in nation

(9) Environmental Policy

• Environmental review and permitting– Fast track for smart growth projects

• State Revolving Fund (water infrastructure)– Reforms to facilitate sewering for town center

growth and get tougher on sewer extensions to outlying areas

• Brownfields redevelopment – State support targeted to cities and town centers

Smart Brownfields Redevelopment

• Heywood Memorial Library, Gardner –Governor’s Smart Growth Leadership Award Winner

(10) Local Capacity Building

• Technical assistance grants to cities and towns– Priority Development Fund (Dep’t of Housing and

Community Development/MassHousing)

– Smart Growth Grants (Environmental Affairs)

• Commonwealth Development agency staff support– mass.gov/ocd

• Governor’s Awards for Smart Growth

Places to Watch: Lowell

Brockton

Haverhill

“Redevelop First” – The first of Massachusetts’s ten

Sustainable Development Principles