Town Of Arlington: Local Rapid Recovery Plan: Helping Heights Businesses Recover From COVID-19

Press release from Town of Arlington:

10/21/2021 4:14 PM

Jointly with the towns of Bedford and Lexington, Arlington participated in the Massachusetts Local Rapid Recovery Plan (LRRP) Program. The LRRP Program provided funding for communities in Massachusetts to develop actionable plans to aid commercial area recovery from COVID-19. The three towns worked with project consultant Finepoint Associates to assess economic and physical conditions of businesses adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway, conduct research, and develop ideas for supporting businesses in their recovery.

View the Local Rapid Recovery Plan: Three Businesses and One Bikeway...Getting Past COVID (2021)

Presentations and Public Events
Residents of the three communities attended a September 14 forum to view a presentation of the final plan from Finepoint Associates. The presentation is posted below.

View the September 14th final plan presentation.

Nearly 100 members from the three communities attended a June 8 forum to hear findings from Finepoint Associates’ assessment and research. Participants shared their ideas for supporting economic recovery, and for Arlington’s participants the focus was on how best to support Arlington Heights businesses along the Minuteman Bikeway in their recovery from COVID-19. Information and ideas gathered at the forum will inform project recommendations. The final action-oriented plan will help the three towns develop immediate strategies for short-term recovery and outline a set of projects and strategies necessary to address COVID-19 recovery needs. Later this summer, the Town will be engaging in a CPA-funded Minuteman Bikeway planning project as well. 

View the June 8th community forum presentation.

View feedback from meeting participants on key questions from forum.

About the LRRP
The Towns of Arlington, Bedford, and Lexington were awarded a Local Rapid Recovery Planning (LRRP) grant by the Massachusetts Downtown Initiative (MDI) to leverage Minuteman Bikeway traffic to drive customers to their business districts to help them recover from the pandemic. The goal of the LRRP program is to give every municipality in Massachusetts the opportunity to develop plans tailored to the unique economic challenges and immediate COVID-19 impacts that have affected downtowns, town centers, and commercial areas throughout Massachusetts. Arlington Heights, East Lexington, and Bedford Center will be areas of specific focus.

For more information about the Local Rapid Response Program, contact Ali Carter, Economic Development Coordinator, at acarter@town.arlington.ma.us or 781-316-3095.

This press release was produced by Town of Arlington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.