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Livability – Livable Community Workshops
OVERVIEW • LIVABLE COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS • RESOURCES
LIVABILITY INDICATORS DATABASE • BICYCLIST/PEDESTRIAN COUNT DATABASE
The MPO conducts free Livable Community Workshops to support the region´s communities in improving their livability. These events facilitate local discussions around walking and bicycling, access to transit, parking, land use, urban design, public health, energy, and climate change and other environmental issues. The workshops advance local awareness and discussion on living in the area without the need for a car and how the built environment can be changed to facilitate doing that.

A Livable Community Workshop has two parts. The first is a presentation by staff on strategies and methods for improving livability that have a track record at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The presentation emphasizes the livability topics selected by the host community. The workshop’s second part usually commences with a site visit through a local area chosen by the community, followed by a brainstorming session to identify shortcomings and discuss possible strategies for resolving them. All members of the community are encouraged to participate, including elected officials, business owners, residents, and local professionals in the fields of planning, engineering, law enforcement, health, and education, and other fields pertaining to the environment.

Following the workshop, MPO staff produce a memorandum documenting the work, recommendations, and any other outcomes of the consultations that took place. The memorandum includes both short- and long-term recommendations, but staff do not perform design. Follow-up may also consist of a planning study programmed through the MPO’s Unified Planning Work Program.

The following is a menu of livability topics available in a workshop. These topics are addressed in more detail in the Resources section of this webpage. As has been explained, workshops are individually tailored to a community’s needs.
  • Walking
  • Bicycling
  • Transit
  • Parking
  • Land use/urban design
  • Housing
  • Public health
  • Economic benefits
  • Environment/energy
  • Climate change
If your community would be interested in hosting a workshop, please contact Cathy Buckley or Sean Pfalzer at (617) 973-7100 or livable@bostonmpo.org.

The Livable Community Workshops build upon the model and success of the Walkable Community Workshops conducted by the MPO from 2004 to 2010. Walkable Community Workshops promoted safe, accessible, and aesthetic walking environments. They were held in 2010 in Bedford, Natick, Needham, Walpole, and Wollaston. In previous years, staff gave workshops in Acton, Arlington, Bellingham, Belmont, Beverly, Bolton, Brookline, Chelsea, East Somerville, Framingham, Franklin, Hopkinton, Hudson, Hull, Ipswich, Lexington, Malden, Maynard, Norwell, Rockland, Rockport, Saugus, Scituate, Stoneham, Stow, Wayland, Wellesley, Westwood, and Wrentham.