Roxbury, Mattapan, and parts of Dorchester are dealing with cracked and buckled sidewalks.
There are many ways to spot wealth, "but a new city analysis underscores a basic disparity that is often overlooked, though it’s in plain sight: Residents in the city’s poorest neighborhoods — Roxbury, Mattapan, and parts of Dorchester — are much more likely to contend with buckled asphalt, cracking concrete, and tree roots smashing through their sidewalks," Meghan E. Irons writes.
The differences are stark: "65 percent of the sidewalks in Roxbury and Dorchester are either in fair or poor condition; by contrast, 68 percent of the sidewalks downtown and in the Back Bay are in good condition, city data show."
"The city began taking a closer look at sidewalk equity last year after the issue was raised in a 154-page report from Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s Office of Resilience and Racial Equity. The document urged the city to rethink how it repairs and maintains sidewalks and develop a proactive, systematic approach in allocating resources," Irons reports.
FULL STORY: Boston’s rich and poor neighborhoods show sidewalk repair disparity
Boston’s Blue Hill Avenue to Get BRT, Safety Improvements
The key bus corridor serves over 37,000 bus riders daily.
Mega-Project Aims to Transform South Boston
Developers with a ground lease for land owned by the University of Massachusetts Boston want to build a new mixed-use development to rival Kendall Square in nearby Cambridge.
Redevelopment Without Displacement: A Boston Experiment
The city of Boston is trying to establish a model for gentrification mitigation in the Upham's Corner section of Dorchester.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
Downtown Los Angeles on the Rise: A Promising 2025
Fueled by new developments, cultural investments, and a growing dining scene, downtown Los Angeles is poised for significant growth in 2025, despite challenges from recent wildfires and economic uncertainties.
Report: Transportation Equity Requires More Than Electrification
Lower-income households often lack the resources to buy electric cars, signaling a need for a more holistic approach to improving mobility and lowering transportation costs.
Supporting Indigenous Land Reclamation Through Design
Harvard students collaborated with the Sac and Fox Nation to develop strategies for reclaiming and co-managing ancestral lands in Illinois, supporting Indigenous sovereignty through design, cultural storytelling, and economic planning.
A Plan to Expand Tree Canopy Across Dayton
Dayton is developing an urban forest master plan, using a $2 million grant to expand its tree canopy, address decades of tree loss, and enhance environmental equity across the city.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research