The Walsh administration later this year will begin work on a series of neighborhood plans aimed at guiding city development from Mattapan to East Boston.
The Boston Planning & Development Agency said Wednesday that it will embark on planning to improve transportation in Allston-Brighton, to boost job growth and access in Newmarket, and to foster sustainable growth and reduce displacement in East Boston and Mattapan.
That’s on top of a recently announced master plan for downtown, which officials say will help to better integrate the growing number of residents in the city’s commercial core.
The planning blitz follows Imagine Boston 2030, the city’s new master plan, which calls for large-scale development in “emerging neighborhoods’’ such as Newmarket and Suffolk Downs in East Boston. It also comes after a series of neighborhood rezoning plans for old industrial sections of South Boston, Jamaica Plain, and Roxbury that are intended to create denser hubs of transit-oriented housing and office space.
“Over the last four years, we have set strong foundations in our planning efforts that will guide our growth as a city in a way that is responsible and inclusive,’’ Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in a statement.
The plan for East Boston will focus on preserving the residential fabric of a neighborhood that is rapidly changing with new development. In Mattapan, planners aim to find ways to attract new housing and economic development, especially near public transit. The Newmarket plan would be tailored to boost job growth along the Fairmount Corridor while improving connections to the rest of the city. And in Allston-Brighton, where large-scale development is underway, the BPDA will study mobility and ways that developers can be enlisted to help finance transportation improvements.
In some places, the plans have been contentious. Zoning for the Washington Street corridor in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury was bogged down for months in debate over how much affordable housing should be required in conjunction with commercial development. In other parts of the city, such as Dorchester Avenue in South Boston, the planning has gone relatively smoothly.
For this next round, neighborhood leaders in East Boston and Mattapan say they hope the plans will help guide development in a way that keeps residents from being forced out of their homes.
“Historically, efforts have inadvertently caused displacement amongst Mattapan residents,’’ said Cynthia Lewis, vice president of the Mattapan Homeowners and Neighborhood Association. “It is our hope that this plan reflects the voice of the community and supports the long-term equitable growth and sustainability that the existing residents of Mattapan deserve.’’
Tim Logan can be reached at tim.logan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bytimlogan.
