Officials unveil second draft of Imagine Boston city plan

Rebekah Emanuel, executive director of Imagine Boston, presents the plan to reporters. This is the last draft open to public comment.

The city last week unveiled the second draft of its Imagine Boston 2030 city planning initiative, opening a month-long comment period, the last before city officials issue their final plan and kick off implementation in the summer.

The draft report presents continued building activity as a strategy for slackening housing demand — and thus reducing residential rents — as well as reducing demand and rents on commercial space and providing the office space necessary to accommodate new job creation. Yet the city also confronts limits on available space, with Boston comprising only 49 square miles and the population due to grow. As such, officials look to maximize land use.

As officials plan for the future they also lay out plans to address current equity gaps, with attention paid to the Fairmount corridor.

Fairmount and economics

City planners acknowledge the 2015 “Color of Wealth” report findings that while white households in the Greater Boston area enjoy a median net worth of $247,500, the value is much lower for some other races: Caribbean black household have $12,000 in net worth; Puerto Ricans have $3,000; non-Puerto Rican Hispanics have $2,700 and U.S. black households hold only $8.

The Imagine Boston plan puts focus on addressing racial equity gaps, noting that predominantly minority neighborhoods also are hit disproportionately by higher unemployment rates, lower median household incomes and lower rates of higher education attainment.

“This gap for us is actually incredibly spatial,” said Rebekah Emanuel, executive director of Imagine Boston, in a meeting with reporters. “The same area … pops up.”

The city’s approach to tackling the problem includes connecting the many low-income and minority residents along the Fairmount line with more frequent service and “equitable fares.” Planners also aim to link Fairmount corridor communities to areas with high concentrations of “career ladders” — that is, jobs with advancement opportunities. This means connections to health care jobs at the Longwood Medical Area, information technology jobs at the South Boston Waterfront and modern industrial jobs in Readville, Emanuel said.

The report states that the city should provide access to job opportunities for residents with differing education levels. Growing the manufacturing sector is one avenue for supplying jobs to feed this qualifications mix, and biotech manufacturing is a particularly promising area, according to the report. The report also states city officials’ intentions to increase the Boston Residents Job Policy hiring goals as well as to examine ways to work toward a higher minimum wage.

Citywide plans for education investment also are expected to enhance opportunity in the Fairmount corridor, as the number of Boston’s school-age children in the area is rising quickly. As such, the school department’s BuildBPS planning initiative is expected to invest in facilities in those neighborhoods. Officials said do not yet know if this will mean expanding existing buildings or construction of new ones. Families with children also should benefit from the Walsh administration’s plans to make pre-K seats available to all children citywide. Currently there are not enough pre-K seats of high quality in Roxbury, Dorchester, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Hyde Park and East Boston, according to city assessments.

Local activists long have been concerned with ensuring that even as they advocate for better transit access, they also push for policies to ensure that when better service comes, it will not drive up rents and displace current residents. In an attempt to track and mitigate any such unintended consequences, officials will reconvene within six months, should they find that there is a loss of 10 percent or more of local households earning below $50,000. Should the loss be found to be due to displacement, not rising incomes, they will reassess the plan, Emanuel said. American Community Survey data will be one source of displacement information.

Local Uphams Corner pilot

Uphams Corner, also served by the Fairmount line, is highlighted in the report as an example of revitalization efforts. The city seeks to bolster existing assets with investments in the Strand Theater (approximately $3 million) and Mary Hannon Park ($896,000). A new $18 million library branch is being constructed there and transit improvements are intended to make the area more bike accessible and walkable, as well as served with more off-peak bus service.

Going forward

The city’s 2018-2022 capital plan funds some key actions of Imagine Boston 2030, and 77 percent of the capital plan aligns with the goals of an array of city planning efforts such as Imagine Boston, Go Boston and others.

Public comment will be accepted on this second draft of the Imagine Boston plan until June 19. Copies of the draft plan will be available in public libraries as well as online.