BU’s Metrobridge Initiative on Cities Program Releases Gillette Site Existing Conditions Analysis
The Fort Point Neighborhood Association (FPNA) in collaboration with the West Broadway Neighborhood Association has partnered with Boston University first via their Metrobridge Initiative on Cities Program to support the community as we prepare to engage the City of Boston and Procter & Gamble in discussions about the redevelopment of the 31-acre Gillette manufacturing site in our neighborhood
Tracking responses to the MBTA Communities Act
Einstein’s class is part of the MetroBridge experiential learning program, run through the Initiative on Cities, which aims to support both the BU community and local governmental organizations through course projects. Einstein’s students were assigned four towns where the law is initially being enforced — Arlington, Newton, Brookline and Milton. There they attended public hearings and town meetings, interviewed local officials and advocates on both sides of the debate, reviewed previous meetings and plans, and observed local online forums.
A BU Class Tackles the Massachusetts Housing Crisis
Not-so-fun fact: if you plan to stay in Boston after BU, it could take you nine years to save enough to buy a starter home. That’s if you’re coupled. Stay single, and you can quadruple that wait. The depressing numbers, from a study by real estate news and research site Point2, testifies to Massachusetts’ affordable housing crisis—one of the topics of this spring’s College of Arts & Sciences political science class Urban Politics and Policy. Several students taking the course, taught by Katherine Levine Einstein, a CAS associate professor of political science, focused their final project on ground zero in the state’s housing wars, Milton.
Gentrification study of Central Square finds independent spirit that’s being sorely tested
Moving from London to Cambridge, two cities that are struggling with rapid gentrification, I’ve long been concerned about how the pace of change disrupts communities’ abilities to survive and thrive. Just last year, Cambridge Local First’s inaugural State of Small Business report confirmed that the national picture for small businesses was reflected in Cambridge – and in short, it is not a good time. Though Cambridge’s independent spirit remains strong, particularly in Central Square, and I am inspired by the power of community to defy, resist or adapt to the seemingly inevitable churn and change of urban life, the headlines make for concerning reading. Multiple independents, restaurants and arts institutions, many long-standing fixtures in the community, have closed their doors to an increasingly frustrated community.
Solving urban health problems from a global perspective
Boston has experienced more hot days and nights in the last ten years than ever before. And Boston University students are looking for solutions. In fall 2023, students in CAS SO490: “Politics of Global Health,” a MetroBridge course, investigated methods to mitigate climate issues like extreme heat, storm water, and coastal flooding in cities in the US and around the world in order to address the problem in Greater Boston.
New BU MetroBridge Class Studies the Impact of Gentrification
When you think about gentrification, you probably think about neighborhoods like Brooklyn, N.Y., or South Boston, where new high-income residents have displaced families who’ve lived there for generations. Gentrification, however, extends beyond housing. It can also result in the displacement of small businesses, an effect known as commercial or retail gentrification.
BU City Planning Students Develop and Present Plan for Busy Square in Boston Suburb
Students of the Boston University Metropolitan College (MET) City Planning & Urban Affairs programs worked with the City of Malden, Massachusetts, to help develop the components of a neighborhood plan for Maplewood Square, the city’s second-largest business district. The class gathered community feedback before making their final presentation on May 8, 2023. The collaboration was part of BU MET’s Urban Studies Capstone Course (MET UA 805), which integrates the principles and applications of city planning, urban affairs, and public policy.
Most U.S. mayors don’t want to ban gas stoves, leaf blowers over climate change impact, survey finds
Mayors of American cities are overwhelmingly concerned about climate change and how it will affect their city, but they are much more divided on whether to restrict the use of fossil fuels in home appliances and lawn tools such as gas stoves and leaf blowers, according to a survey of mayors conducted by the Boston University Initiative on Cities that was released last week.
Malden Plans Community Forums To Discuss Future Of Maplewood Square
Malden’s Maplewood Square area will be the subject of a series of upcoming community forums beginning next month, city officials announced last week. Kicking off on Saturday, Feb. 4, the forums are the product of Malden’s Committee on the Future of Maplewood Square. Planned forums aim to “build a consensus vision for Maplewood Square,” as noted in last week’s city announcement.
MetroBridge GRS Course Aims to Help Reshape Community Policing in Lynn
Lynn, Mass., made headlines in summer 2020 when Thomas McGee, then the city’s mayor, allocated $25,000 to the community organization Lynn Racial Justice Coalition (LRJC) to study creating an alternative to policing. The study, commissioned following nationwide protests in response to police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, was to explore the logistics of establishing an unarmed crisis response team to address emergency situations—such as individuals experiencing mental health crises—that police officers aren’t trained to address.