Walsh Calls for Boston 2030 Plan

The last time Boston completed a comprehensive citywide plan was 1965 - and Wednesday, Mayor Martin J. Walsh said it's time for the whole city and experts to get involved in developing a new vision for the city's 400th anniversary in 2030.

All told, it could affect how literally billions of dollars get spent on housing, commercial development, transportation and more.

"It goes far beyond comprehensive planning. It talks about zoning. It talks about energy. It talks about environment. It talks about schools," Walsh said in an interview session with reporters after a formal announcement at City Hall. "We have to create better transportation infrastructure. We have to create more opportunities for employment. We have to create more housing."

Walsh said he envisions a two-year process of community meetings and discussions, plus lots of public input through a website imagine.boston.gov, leading to adoption of a plan in the summer of 2017. And it could create some public consensus for a struggling Boston 2024 Olympics bid to align itself to in hopes of gaining voter support ahead of likely city and state ballot questions this year and next.

Walsh said, however, that "this is bigger than the Olympic movement here. This is about master planning the entire city or looking at comprehensive planning the entire city. I think the 2024 plan, if we were to host the Olympics, would fit in to certain pieces of this."

City Council President Bill Linehan said after a flurry of development and the singular Tom Menino era, a 2030 plan is needed.

"We often put that on the back burner when we're trying to do individual developments," Linehan said. "I think it's time, with a new administration and so much looking forward in our city, that we seriously need to weigh in on this."


With videographer Michael Bennett

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