Thursday, April 11, 2013
The report reveals that 42 percent of residents in the Orange Line corridor are people of color, that 20 percent of households live in poverty, and that the corridor is ripe for development.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council Tuesday released a study called the "Orange Line Opportunity Corridor Report." The report looks at the demographics, economy and infrastructure of the MBTA line, which stretches from Malden, through Somerville, into downtown Boston, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. The MBTA is currently building a new Orange Line Station in Somerville's Assembly Square that is expected to open in 2014. It's the fist new MBTA station built since 1987. The report makes a number of observations and recommendations about the Orange Line. For instance: The report calls for investing in the Orange Line's infrastructure, encouraging large-scale land acquisition for development, and mitigating displacement of at-risk residents …
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The party will take place in Somerville, Cambridge, Boston and Brookline.
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Sunday, August 5, 2012
Hubway was scheduled to start installing new bike sharing stations in Somerville in early August. It's doing the same thing in Cambridge and Brookline, and it's also expanding in Boston. To celebrate the expansion of Hubway, Somerville, Boston, Brookline and Cambridge are having a "rolling launch party" on Aug. 8. Celebrations in Somerville will be at 10 a.m. at City Hall. Here's the annoncement from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, a partner in Hubway: Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Boston Celebrate Hubway Expansion ‘Rolling Launch Party’ on Wednesday to highlight new stations across Metro Boston Region BOSTON – The Hubway Bicycle Share system is now expanding across the Boston region, with new stations coming online in …
42.38671
-71.09836
Somerville City Hall
93 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA
/articles/hubway-rolling-launch-party-scheduled-for-wednesday
787420
/locations/7525688
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone was on Beacon Hill March 29 to support funding for the Shannon Grant, designed to help at-risk youth and prevent gangs, crimes and violence.
- GOVERNMENT
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Sunday, April 8, 2012
Editor's note: The following was provided by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. It refers to an event that happend on March 29: BOSTON – The Metro Mayors Coalition hosted a “Shannon Grant Day on the Hill” at the Massachusetts State House on Thursday, March 29 to advocate for funding of the Shannon Grant Community Safety Initiative, which helps fund the prevention of youth crime and gang violence in Greater Boston. More than 200 young adults, youth advocates, mayors, law enforcement officials and legislators gathered to speak about the impact the grant has had on them and their local communities; after the rally, they fanned out across Beacon Hill to speak directly with legislators and their staff about maintaining Shannon funding in…
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Are you happy with the MBTA's recommendations for fare hikes and service changes?
On Wednesday, the MBTA and Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced recommendations for closing a $161 million budget gap in fiscal year 2013, which begins on July 1. The recommendation uses fare increases, one-time payments from the state, administrative changes and some service cuts and reductions to balance the budget. In January, the MBTA had proposed two different scenarios for closing the budget gap, and those scenarios called for even more fare increases and service cuts. Before issuing its recommendations Wednesday, MassDOT solicited feedback from the public, and according to a MassDOT report, the transit authority held 25 meetings and 6 public hearings; 5,800 people attended the gatherings, 1800 people spoke, and 5800 …
Friday, March 23, 2012
State public health commissioner says Somerville provides a national model for effectively tackling health problems such as obesity, lack of physical activity and smoking.
Regina Benjamin, surgeon general of the United States, was in Somerville Friday morning to talk about a $1.57 million federal grand awarded to Middlesex County designed to improve public health. The grant is part of a national effort, spearheaded by the Affordable Care Act, to prevent illness and disease before they start. Speaking at the Holiday Inn on Washington Street, Benjamin said, "Health does not occur in the doctor's office [or] in the hospitals only." Rather, she said, preventative health—eating right, getting physical activity, avoiding tobacco and excessive drinking—is what's really required to stay healthy and, importatnly, keep health care costs down. "The lack of prevention takes a devastating toll," she said, adding the cost…
42.38188
-71.08242
Holiday Inn Boston-Somerville
30 Washington St, Somerville, MA
/articles/u-s-surgeon-general-visits-somerville-touts-prevention
787601
/locations/6650275
Friday, March 9, 2012
An online calculator, launched by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, let's people play around with the T's budget and find solutions to it's fiscal woes.
No one seems to want service cuts or fare increases on the T, but there's still a $161 million budget gap in the MBTA's upcoming budget. So, how would you fix the problem? A new online calculator, launched by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, lets people fiddle around with various options for finding the solution. For instance, the calculator lets you raise the gas tax by 1 cent, which would put $27.7 million into the MBTA's coffers. Or, you could institute a 50-cent surcharge on fares for large events, earning $5 million. There are 31 options in all, and the calculator lets you play around with them to find the right balance of fare increases, service cuts, non-fare revenue streams, cost transfers and state funding possibilities. …
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council is speaking out against proposed T service cuts and fare hikes.
- OPINION
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Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The following was submitted by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. It does not reflect the views of Patch: The MBTA faces a structural fiscal crisis, the immediate symptom of which is a $161 million gap in the Fiscal 2013 budget. Despite exhaustive efforts to reduce its operating budget, the MBTA is left with only two tools to resolve the crisis: fare increases and service cuts. In response to next year’s shortfall, the MBTA has proposed two scenarios that, if implemented, will have negative repercussions for many years. Both scenarios include elimination of many bus routes, all ferries, and commuter rail service after 10 pm and on weekends. Scenario 1 would raise fares by 43%, while Scenario 2 combines a somewhat smaller fare increase…
Friday, November 4, 2011
The public-meeting phase has ended. Now Somerville and Medford must decide how committed they are to the project.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council will issue a report by the end of the year, and planners expect municipal officials in Somerville and Medford to use it to decide how committed they are to running the Green Line rail to Route 16. "Our hope is the muncipalities will take it and think about things that could happen in that area," said Kate Fichter, Green Line Extension project manager for MassDOT. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council, an organization commissioned by MassDOT to study the potential impacts of running the Green Line to Route 16 near the intersection with Boston Avenue, held it's fifth and final "community visioning" meeting Wednesday. At the meeting, held in Medford, they took input from community members and explained …
Jeff Levine
3:32 pm on Saturday, March 31, 2012
Yep, the legislature needs to deal with this problem they created by piling Big Dig obligations onto the T, which had nothing to do with the project. more ›