Tag Archives: community design

American Planning Association Announces Call for “Great Places” Recognition

News and Updates

According to the American Planning Association (APA), a “Great Place” in your community demonstrates the importance of planning, provides an opportunity for promotion and tourism, and illustrates how local policies and projects strengthen our communities.

These “Great Places” often highlight Age-Friendly activities and the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative encourages communities to make a suggestion online to the APA by April 17 if their city, town or neighborhood meets the criteria. Last year, Lowell’s Canalway Cultural District and the Village of Shelburne Falls made the 2018 list from Massachusetts.

Continue reading →

Baker-Polito Administration Announces $3 Million in Complete Streets Funding Program Awards

News and Updates,

Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito joined Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver, elected officials, and local leaders in Quincy to announce awards totaling nearly $3 million to eleven communities through the Complete Streets Funding Program.

These awards will be used to fund local, multimodal infrastructure projects that improve accessibility for bicyclists, pedestrians, public transit users, and people using other forms of transportation. In doing so, the Complete Streets program helps communities become more Age-Friendly (Complete Streets are highlighted in the AARP “Roadmap to Livability” Resource on Transportation). Continue reading →

AARP Releases 2019 ‘Dangerous by Design’ Report

Data and Reports,

The 2019 Dangerous by Design report ranks states and metropolitan areas throughout the United States according to how dangerous the roadways are for pedestrians.

Published by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition, with support from AARP, the American Society of Landscape Architects and the consulting firm of Nelson\Nygaard, the report’s Pedestrian Danger Index measures how dangerous it is for people to walk based on the number of people struck and killed by drivers while walking. Continue reading →

Age-Friendly Funding Alert: MAPC Technical Assistance Program

News and Updates,

The Healthy Aging Collaborative previously shared an opportunity from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to provide technical assistance that enables and assists municipalities in implementing projects that are beneficial to the community.

MAPC  will issue a new Call for Project Concepts in the next two weeks. Keep an eye on this webpage and MAPC’s social media accounts to learn more. Municipalities may submit concepts for individual community-specific projects and for multi-community projects. Continue reading →

Wintermission Competition Accepting Applications to Help Improve Public Life in Winter

News and Updates, , ,

8-80 Cities is accepting proposals for Wintermission project partners in three U.S. cities. The organization will support these partners to become national leaders in winter city planning, design, and programming. These cities will become Winter City Vanguards, and work with 8-80 Cities and other partners to:

1. Lead a city-wide conversation about public life and social isolation in winter
2. Implement winter city pilot projects
3. Develop a unique winter city strategy Continue reading →

MassTrails Program Launched at MassDOT ‘Moving Together’ Conference

Data and Reports, News and Updates, ,

MassTrails seeks to expand and connect the Commonwealth’s networks of off-road, shared-use pathways and recreational trails for all users across Massachusetts by providing matching grants, technical assistance and resources to individuals, municipalities, non-profits, and other public entities to design, construct, and maintain high quality Massachusetts trails. Continue reading →