Campbell Taylor: My Summer with the City of Boston Planning Advisory Council

Working with the City of Boston Planning Advisory Council (PAC) team this past summer was an incredible and transformative experience. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with the Planners and experts across other departments at City Hall, learning from their expertise on Boston’s neighborhoods and needs. This summer was a particularly exciting time to join the PAC because we are in the midst of a mayoral election, significant changes to federal funding, and the launch of Boston’s first Anti-Displacement Action Plan. When I began my internship, I had no idea what the term Anti-Displacement meant, let alone how to evaluate related policies or engage in fraught community conversations. I’m grateful for the enthusiastic mentorship of Joy Armstrong, Anne Schwieger, and Katherine Lusk, who each guided my learning over the two months.

My work this summer focused on two primary areas of the PAC’s mission: the Anti-Displacement Action Plan and Public reporting on Plan implementation. The Anti-Displacement Action Plan is Boston’s first comprehensive effort to stabilize residents, businesses, and cultural institutions across the City. It addresses several types of displacement, ranging from direct evictions and foreclosures to rising rents and gentrification pressures. A draft version of the plan was released in March, and the final plan came out in July. It will be rolled out over two years, so my contributions concentrated on preparing for the final plan release and initiating the first phase of implementation.

I began by reviewing every city resource linked in the Anti-Displacement Toolkit to ensure they were up-to-date and accessible before the final Action Plan release. I was immediately impressed with the breadth of tools available to Boston residents, small businesses, and cultural groups. The project introduced me to the Action Plan and several related departments across City Hall in incremental steps. I met with content owners in the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH), Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion (OEOI), Workforce Empowerment (WE), Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture (MOAC), and the Environment, Energy, and Open Space (EEOS), among others. I really appreciated learning from public servants with such diverse backgrounds, and enjoyed contributing to the PAC’s mission to overcome interdepartmental silos. I’m also proud that the webpages affiliated with the Toolkit now reflect the City’s commitment to stabilizing Bostonians.

Alongside the Toolkit updates, my first weeks at the PAC focused on pilot community workshops in Allston-Brighton and Codman Square. We led both events in collaboration with neighborhood organizations, learning from Bostonians’ experiences with displacement while increasing awareness of the Anti-Displacement Action Plan. I enjoyed designing the workshop activities and determining the best ways to engage in those challenging conversations. It was powerfully grounding to hear stories of community members struggling with so many types of displacement. Their experiences reinforced my commitment to public service, housing policy, and combating urban economic inequality. Following the workshops, I also drafted reports detailing the events and the City’s takeaways. Those will be published in early fall once the pilot is complete, and serve as an accountability tool for the Action Plan. Supporting the roll-out of the Anti-Displacement Action Plan introduced me to the intense rewards and challenges of local government policy. I’m proud to have successfully launched community events, but the depth of urban inequality weighs heavily on me. My contributions are tiny compared with the magnitude of hardship Bostonians are facing on a monthly basis to make rent and keep their businesses afloat, but I remain committed to doing everything I can to help.

The second side of the PAC’s work, public reporting on plan implementation (PRPI), improved my interview skills, narrative writing style, and multimedia content creation techniques. My first project was a blog post about newly renovated pools across Boston. I had the opportunity to speak with residents about their experiences with the construction and enjoyed hearing their excitement about the new neighborhood amenities. Weaving real stories into City reporting brings life to public investments across Boston. I also developed social media content about the renovated pools, learning visual media techniques from Gitana Savage, a journalism student at Northeastern. My primary accomplishment in this project was that the Mayor’s own media team took components of my drafted content and used it in their publications! My other PRPI work involved writing an article for Age Strong’s Seniority Magazine about ongoing neighborhood plans in Charlestown, East Boston, and Mattapan. Like the pools project, I got to dig deep into local developments around the City. I feel much more connected to Boston’s built environment now that I know the extensive and thoughtful planning processes it undergoes.

I take pride in the release of the Anti-Displacement Action Plan, recognizing the hours of effort from City staff, community organizations, and Bostonians to improve conditions for our residents, small businesses, and cultural institutions. I’m grateful for newfound insight into the microcultures of each neighborhood across Boston, and the core challenges we’re collectively facing. My time with the PAC has reinforced my passion for combating urban inequality patterns and my belief that interdisciplinary, inter-departmental collaboration is vital to progress.

Perhaps even more than the career and academic insights from my time at City Hall, I value the community of the PAC and Planning Department. Spending the summer in the incredible mentorship of the PAC team taught me valuable lessons about servant leadership and community-building. Casual conversations about favorite summer activities in the city and Red Sox traditions balanced our complex discussions about the legacy of urban renewal and the appropriate influence of government in daily life. I learned that every Bostonian believes they live in the best neighborhood in the city and the best city in the country. After these last few months, I can confidently say that I agree.

I’m very excited that I will be returning to City Hall in September to continue working part-time with the PAC on the Anti-Displacement Action Plan roll-out. This internship has been transformative for me, and I look forward to learning more over the coming months. My immense gratitude to the Planning Advisory Council team and the Initiative on Cities for making this summer opportunity possible. I hope my work helps Bostonians feel that they have a place to thrive in the best city in the country.

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