We must abolish the BPDA.
Michelle Wu, City Councilor at-large, invites the public to envision an inclusive, transparent, and ongoing partnership to plan our shared future. This living document is a starting point for this conversation.
Has the Boston development process affected your community?
Join the conversation here!
FIXING BOSTON’S BROKEN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS -
WHY AND HOW TO ABOLISH THE BPDA
Meeting our challenges with urgency and scale will require considering the interconnectedness of these issues and empowering everyone to take part. -
It may surprise some how much can be accomplished toward this end without a home-rule petition and just through the actions of the Mayor and City Council. By returning the property holdings from which the BPDA derives its operating budget to City ownership, and migrating the BPDA’s functions back under City Council oversight, we can effectively dismantle this unaccountable super-agency. This will include terminating the remaining urban renewal areas.
The work cannot end there. In the BPDA’s place, a new Planning Department should overhaul the zoning code to introduce consistency and predictability to the development process.
Most importantly, this new entity should begin compiling a comprehensive master plan built on meaningful community engagement. If Boston will be a city for everybody, then everybody should have a say in planning it.