Somerville To Revisit 2030 Goals, Begin 2040 Outlook

SOMERVILLE, MA – Officials will begin the process of updating the city's 2030 goals and looking ahead to 2040 at a kickoff event next month. The community is invited to revisit the goals set in Somerville's Comprehensive Plan 2010-2030 and build in goals for 2040 at a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave.

In 2009, the community came together over the course of more than 50 meetings, visioning sessions and workshops to determine a guiding document for the city. The resulting SomerVision plan included more than 584 values-driven goals, policies, and actions ranging from housing, job, and open space creation to neighborhood preservation, transformational development, and transportation advances, and more. Since then, SomerVision has been used to guide for the city's policy and planning.

"Of course we still have more to do, but the critical progress that our city has made toward our housing, workforce, mobility, and other goals traces straight back to the clear and consistent vision for our future anchored in SomerVision—along with that Somerville tendency to never give up (think Green Line Extension)," Mayor Curtatone said in a statement. "A lot has changed since SomerVision was first written. In some areas, such as our Somerville Climate Forward Plan for becoming carbon-neutral by 2050, we are already looking further into the future than 2030. So to keep SomerVision a living document that is responsive to new opportunities and evolving needs, we are reconvening this process and asking to hear from the community once again."

CORE SOMERVISION 2030 GOALS:

• 30,000 New Jobs
• 125 New Acres of Publicly-Accessible Open Space
• 6,000 New Housing Units including 1,200 Permanently Affordable units
• 50% of New Trips via Transit, Bike, or Walking
• 85% of New Development in Transformative Areas

To view the full SomerVision 2030 plan and the progress reports visit www.somervision2040.com.

The city’s goal is broad participation. Opportunities to participate, including in multilingual discussions, will be designed for both busy residents who want to quickly weigh in on key issues and for those who want to engage more deeply through debates about specific policies and strategies, according to a press release. These include everything from serving on the Steering Committee or attending meetings to taking a survey or hosting a SomerSupper with your neighbors.

Those who can’t attend the Jan. 15 meeting may watch it on www.SomerVision2040.com at a later date. An RSVP is not required, but an RSVP at EventBrite is encouraged.

Community members are also invited to participate in the SomerVision Challenge by taking photos in Somerville of 1) something you love, 2) something you’d love to change, and 3) a SomerVision 2040 related question you have.

Then share them on social media with #SomerVision2040, or email your submissions to planning@somervillema.gov, or hand deliver paper submissions to the Welcome Desk at City Hall. The City may share your contributions through future SomerVision events and documents to help spark and inform discussion (if you post on social media, be sure to make your post and profile public so we can share your vision).

To stay informed about future SomerVision 2040 announcements, visit the website and join the email list at www.SomerVision2040.com.

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