City to End Half-Century Wait for a Master Plan

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Mayor Marty Walsh has launched the first city-wide planning effort since 1965. As anyone involved with the politics of development knows, these days projects pretty much get considered one-by-one.

The effort will ramp up over the next few years, leading to a blueprint for what the city should be like in 2030. The city has a fancy new Web site devoted to the effort. If you Tweet, the city wants folks to use #ImagineBos.

The city made an introductory video asking residents how old they'd be in 2030 and what they hope the city will be like then. Among those filmed was JP's Gerald Robbins, executive director of Hyde Jackson Square Main Streets.

His suggestion? "Grow inclusiveness in the city of Boston."

Others interviewed asked for items like:

"Housing for everyone."
"Better jobs. And a lot more restaurants."
"Lower rent. That would help me."

JP is already a focus for new planning efforts along the Orange Line and Washington Street. Walsh is pushing to add 53,000 housing units by 2030.

The Globe has a review of what happened — and didn't — out of the last master plan. Famously, Jamaica Plain residents helped stopped that document's vision of putting I-95 right through the heart of the neighborhood. Instead, we have the Southwest Corridor Park to enjoy.

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