Take Action on Boston's Squares + Streets initiative

Take Action on Boston’s Squares + Streets initiative

1/12/24 Update: Our collective advocacy has led to the implementation of the highest density district within the Squares & Streets Initiative. Thank you! Your voice matters and is still needed! The BPDA is seeking feedback to the questions depicted below. Click here to submit your comments and ideas before January 28th. You are also welcome to resubmit new ideas as you have them.

We are counting on you to:

Submit comments using the city’s public comment form including the talking points provided by AHMA, and…
Attend at least one (1) community office hour session and/or a public meeting

The BPDA holds recurring Squares + Streets Zoning Community Office Hours throughout the process. Please refer to the official page for additional information, events and important dates.

By actively participating in the Squares+Streets initiative process through public comment and meeting attendance, you are helping bring AHMA’s vision of housing abundance to the City of Boston.

AHMA Talking Points on Squares & Streets

The City of Boston is requesting feedback, in the following format, on the Squares & Streets Initiative. Use these talking points to provide your feedback and make the pro-housing case!

This initiative is a step in the right direction towards greater housing abundance and affordability in the city of Boston. It creates a framework the City can use to legalize the kind of homes we need to make Boston an affordable place to live. It also helpfully moves away from an over-reliance on discretionary review, which adds significant inefficiency, delays, and costs to every project. Greater predictability will encourage the creation of more homes throughout the City at all price points. This kind of zoning reform is long overdue and should not be delayed any further.
The elimination of parking minimums in all Squares + Streets districts is an important reform that will reduce the cost of housing, support the City’s long term commitments to investing in transit and active transportation, and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
The land use modernization component is excellent. By updating and simplifying the categories for various residential and commercial property use, it will streamline permitting and support the creation of dynamic streetscapes and neighborhoods across all of Boston.

Previous presentations on the Squares + Streets initiative included the S5: Placemaker Squares district. This district is not included in the draft text amendment. This is a mistake. The BPDA should be stocking its toolbox with as many tools as possible to create more homes and invigorate neighborhoods. Some of the most successful recent redevelopments in the city (including Boylston Street in the Fenway and the Harrison-Albany district) fit the building types contemplated by the S5 district. The existing conditions in any given district should be the absolute floor of what is included in the nearby mapping, and we need to create opportunities for growth beyond that. The BPDA can make the decision where or even if to deploy S5 overlays. That’s not an option if it isn’t included in the draft language.
It is unclear exactly how the Small Area Plans will be created after this zoning amendment passes. While community engagement is essential, local feedback cannot be the deciding criteria for where S0 through S5 are mapped during the Squares + Streets process. Objective criteria must be used, including proximity to existing business corridors and transit access. Every neighborhood in Boston must allow for greater density. If we want to equitably address the current housing crisis, loud opposition from wealthy homeowners in one neighborhood should not be allowed to shift even higher density to other areas of the city.

Take Action on Boston’s Squares + Streets initiative

Take Action on Boston’s Squares + Streets initiative

AHMA Talking Points on Squares & Streets

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