Boston Planning & Development Agency

Last updated
Boston Planning and Development Agency
BPDA Logo.png
Logo as of 2019
Agency overview
Formed1957;66 years ago (1957)
Type Urban planning agency
Headquarters Boston City Hall
1 City Hall Square #9,
Boston, MA
Coordinates: 42°21′37.16″N71°3′28.68″W / 42.3603222°N 71.0579667°W / 42.3603222; -71.0579667
Agency executive
  • James Arthur Jamison II, Director
Website www.bostonplans.org

The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is a Massachusetts public agency that serves as the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial developments.

Contents

As an agency concerned with urban planning, the BPDA does not consider requests for zoning variances from individual property owners. These are heard by the city's own Zoning Board of Appeals, a seven-person body appointed by the Mayor of Boston. [1]

Some consider the BPDA's roles as both real estate owner and developer, and approval authority over private development projects, to be a conflict of interest. [2]

Projects

One of the first projects the BRA took on was the demolition of the West End of Boston, in an infamous urban renewal project that generated a considerable negative reaction locally and across the country. At the same time, nineteenth-century buildings around Scollay Square were demolished to make way for the new Government Center. [3] Many consider the finished project (which includes Boston City Hall) an eyesore, and the surrounding large brick plaza as an uncomfortable place to be. [4] Another urban renewal project was the Prudential Tower development over the Boston and Albany Railroad right-of-way in Back Bay; as part of this project, Mechanics Hall on Huntington Avenue was taken by the city using eminent domain and demolished in 1959.

The BRA also collaborated with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy on various development projects such as the Rose Kennedy Greenway, which was developed atop the Big Dig. The BRA owns real estate throughout the city and together with community participation through planning initiatives, issues Requests for Proposals as part of the land disposition process in order to achieve neighborhood-based community development goals. Another example of the BRA's work involves collaboration with the State Coastal Zone Management Department for waterfront planning and redevelopment of privately owned and MassPort-owned properties. An example of municipal harbor planning involves the "East Boston Municipal Harbor Plan" where properties of varied ownership along the waterfront are currently being developed [5] and Fort Point Channel development.

The BRA has also undertaken improvements on Columbia Road in Dorchester, a narrow stretch of green space that Frederick Law Olmsted once envisioned as The Dorchesterway, the final link in the Emerald Necklace park system. [6]

History

Officially a "public body politic and corporate," the BRA was established by the Massachusetts General Court and the Boston City Council in 1957, superseding the authority of the Boston Housing Authority. Its primary goal is to work with Boston businesses and developers in order to provide direction for development in the city of Boston.

Its statutory authority was set forth in the Massachusetts General Laws chapter 121B, section 4, and amended by the Session Laws of 1960, chapter 652, section 12. The agency's redevelopment authority includes the jurisdiction to buy and sell real estate, acquire real estate through eminent domain, and grant tax concessions to encourage commercial and residential development. [7]

On September 27, 2016, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh changed the name of the development agency from the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) to the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA). This change was part of a broader goal to make city government more transparent and to put a friendlier face to a bureaucratic agency that rules upon major construction in the city. [8]

Michelle Wu promised during her successful mayoral campaign to abolish the BPDA. In February 2022, she asked the city council to terminate some of the agency's planning urban renewal districts. [9]

Directors of the BRA

[7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban renewal</span> Land redevelopment in cities

Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighted areas in inner cities to clear out slums and create opportunities for higher class housing, businesses, and other developments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government Center, Boston</span> Area in downtown Boston, Massachusetts

Government Center is an area in downtown Boston, centered on City Hall Plaza. Formerly the site of Scollay Square, it is now the location of Boston City Hall, courthouses, state and federal office buildings, and a major MBTA subway station, also called Government Center. Its development was controversial, as the project displaced thousands of residents and razed several hundred homes and businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redevelopment</span> New construction on a site that has preexisting uses

Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses. It represents a process of land development uses to revitalize the physical, economic and social fabric of urban space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway</span> Linear park on former expressway in Boston, MA

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is a linear park located in several Downtown Boston neighborhoods. It consists of landscaped gardens, promenades, plazas, fountains, art, and specialty lighting systems that stretch over one mile through Chinatown, the Financial District, the Waterfront, and North End neighborhoods. Officially opened in October 2008, the 17-acre Greenway sits on land created from demolition of the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway as part of the Big Dig project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyde Park, Boston</span> Neighborhood of Boston in Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Hyde Park is the southernmost neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Situated 7.9 miles south of downtown Boston, it is home to a diverse range of people, housing types and social groups. It is an urban location with suburban characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West End, Boston</span> Neighborhood of Boston in Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

The West End is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, bounded generally by Cambridge Street to the south, the Charles River to the west and northwest, North Washington Street on the north and northeast, and New Sudbury Street on the east. Beacon Hill is to the south, North Point is across the Charles River to the north, Kendall Square is across the Charles River to the west, and the North End is to the east. A late 1950s urban renewal project razed a large Italian and Jewish enclave and displaced over 20,000 people in order to redevelop much of the West End and part of the neighboring Downtown neighborhood. After that, the original West End became increasingly non-residential, including part of Government Center as well as much of Massachusetts General Hospital and several high rise office buildings. More recently, however, new residential buildings and spaces, as well as new parks, have been appearing across the West End.

South Station Tower is a skyscraper under construction in Boston, Massachusetts, the high-rise portion of a three-building development. Construction on Phase 1 of the project, a 51-story, 678-foot tower with offices and condominiums, started in January 2020 and is expected to take 4 years. It will be built atop Boston's historic South Station complex, an example of transit-oriented development. The overall project will include condominium units, office space, a parking structure, and possibly hotel space. The property was initially proposed by Hines Interests and TUDC, a subsidiary of Tufts University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assembly Square</span>

Assembly Square is a neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts. It is located along the west bank of the Mystic River, bordered by Ten Hills and Massachusetts Route 28 to the north and the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston to the south. The district's western border runs along Interstate 93. Located 2.5 mi (4.0 km) from downtown Boston, the 143 acres (580,000 m2) parcel is named for a former Ford Motor Company plant that closed in 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Point, Boston</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Harborwalk</span> Public walkway that follows the edge Boston Harbor

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward J. Logue</span> Urban planner, public administrator

Edward Joseph Logue was an American urban planner and public administrator who worked in New Haven, Boston, and New York State. Commentators often compare Logue with Robert Moses - both were advocates of large-scale urban renewal in the United States from the 1950s through the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morrissey Boulevard</span>

Morrissey Boulevard is a six-lane divided coastal road in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned and maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) is a public agency of the city of Boston, Massachusetts that provides subsidized public housing to low- and moderate-income families and individuals.

Bayside Expo Center was a convention center located in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Originally opened as a shopping mall called Bayside Mall in the 1960s, the mall later failed and the convention center opened in its place. In 2010, it was purchased by the University of Massachusetts Boston after the building went into foreclosure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seaport District</span>

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References

  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-26. Retrieved 2007-11-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Boston Globe: Sale of Winthrop Square Garage halted after complaint
  3. FUP|web Archived December 9, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Government Center Boston
  5. Planning Initiatives – Boston Redevelopment Authority Archived October 1, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Database of Greenspaces and Neighborhoods in the heart of Boston". Archived from the original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2009-12-16. Heart of the City Project, Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Harvard University and Northeastern University
  7. 1 2 BRA History
  8. Logan, Tim (2016-09-27). "Introducing the new BRA: Walsh to re-name powerful Boston agency". The Boston Globe . Retrieved 2016-09-27.
  9. Wu says she’ll wind down Boston’s urban renewal districts. Here’s what that means.