MetroCommon 2050 is an ambitious plan to create a shared vision for what people who live and work in Greater Boston want our region to be, and to provide a path to achieving that vision.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPC)–composed of reps from 101 towns and cities, including Bedford—has spent three years developing MetroCommon 2050. At its core are bold policy recommendations in five key areas that determine whether Greater Boston will thrive:
- Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation
- Dynamic and Representative Government
- Equity of Wealth and Health
- Homes for Everyone
- Inclusive Growth & Mobility
The agency developed goals, recommendations, and action steps for these arenas through intensive outreach to local residents, public officials, nonprofits, and numerous other stakeholders over the past three years. The results are informed by residents’ lived experiences as well as research into long-term trends shaping our future.
MAPC is devoting MetroCommon May to collecting feedback on these recommendations and action steps. You can play a big part in shaping MetroCommon 2050 by checking them out and taking a survey that allows you to provide your input. (See the website below.)
MAPC is a dynamic agency with some 100 employees working in numerous arenas that shape our region’s quality of life, including climate and clean energy, economic development, housing, public health, transportation, and arts and culture.
The agency has played a critical role in the region’s response to the Covid pandemic. For example, it has hosted weekly meetings between local officials–including Bedford Town Manager Sarah Stanton—and the Baker administration. The agency has also worked closely with public health officials to ensure that all residents have access to urgently needed services during the pandemic.
The MAPC legislative team collaborates with state agencies and state senators and representatives–and even our Washington delegation–to shape and promote legislation that tackles critical challenges. In all this work the agency centers racial and economic equity as core values and determinants of our region’s health and prosperity.
Several Bedford residents are active in MAPC. Planning Board member Jacinda Barbehhen is a member of the MetroCommon2050 external advisory committee. Select Board chair Margot Fleischman and Planning Board member Amy Lloyd represent Bedford on the 13-town MAGIC subregion. And I have been one of four MAPC elected officers and a member of the executive committee over the past five years.
Please add your voice to this important work by exploring the MetroCommon website and taking the survey. Staff members will incorporate your feedback into the final plan, which is due for release in June. Representatives from member cities and towns will then vote to approve the plan at the fall Council meeting.
MAPC is hosting several events as part of MetroCommon May. These include Living Together (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA6ltauW9JI), a short film about our region.
All are welcome to participate in all MAPC events! For more on MetroCommon May–and to take the survey–see https://www.mapc.org/planning101/announcing-metrocommon-may/.
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