Mission

A Better City represents a multi-sector group of nearly 130 business leaders united around a common goal: to enhance the Greater Boston region’s economic health, competitiveness, equitable growth, sustainability, and quality of life for all communities. By amplifying the voice of the business community through collaboration and consensus-building, A Better City develops solutions and influences policy in three critical areas: 1. transportation and infrastructure, 2. land use and development, and 3. energy and the environment. A Better City is committed to building an equitable and inclusive future for the region that benefits and uplifts residents, workers, and businesses in Greater Boston.

Publications

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The Shade Effect: A Quantitative Analysis of Shade Interventions in Boston by the B-COOL Partnership

In the summer of 2025, the B-COOL team worked with the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Boston Office of Climate Resilience, Franklin Park Zoo, and Turner Construction Company to deploy kestrel sensors to measure the impact of . . . Read More
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2025 Year in Review

Throughout 2025, A Better City was proud to partner with you,and with the Healey-Driscoll Administration, State Legislature,and Wu Administration, to navigate a year marked by economicchallenges and uncertainty. We worked together to . . . Read More
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Boosting Bluebikes

In 2024, the Bluebikes bikeshare system, easily recognizable by its title sponsor, Blue Cross Blue Shield, introduced e-bikes to its growing fleet of bicycles for the first time in its 14-year history. The all-new, immensely popular . . . Read More
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Feeling the Heat: B-COOL Pilot Explores the Efficacy of Heat Emergency Protocols in Boston’s Hotspot Neighborhoods

This Report shares the findings of the B-COOL 2024 temperature sensor pilot, which deployed 15 temperature sensors across environmental justice hotspot neighborhoods in Boston and compared their data to official heat emergency declaration . . . Read More
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Greening the Blue Line

In celebration of Earth Week, A Better City released Greening the Blue Line, a report undertaken in collaboration with Civic Space Collaborative and Weston & Sampson and with generous support from the Stone Living Lab. This project . . . Read More

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Greenway Business Improvement District (BID)

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Latest Blog Posts

Policy Update: The MBTA is Buying New Commuter Rail Locomotives

November 4, 2026

At the October convening of the MBTA Board of Directors on October 22, 2026, the MBTA awarded a $310 million contract to Siemens to manufacture and deliver new, service-ready locomotives for the . . .

Celebrating Year 1 of the Community Adaptations to City Heat (CATCH) Project: Urban Heat Action and Policy Database, Policy Brief, and Cross-Jurisdictional Learning

October 22, 2026

In summer 2025, A Better City joined as a subcontractor on the three-year Community Adaptations to City Heat (CATCH) project, led by Dr. Patricia Fabián at the Boston University School of . . .

A BETTER CITY CONVERSATION: FINANCING TOOLS FOR BUILDING DECARBONIZATION

October 20, 2026

On October 14, A Better City hosted a conversation on Financing Tools for Building Decarbonization. Wendy O’Malley, Senior VP for Green Finance at MassDevelopment discussed updates to the . . .