Home — A Better City

Mission

A Better City advances Boston’s and the region’s economic health, access, sustainability, and quality of life through applied research, planning, targeted services, and advocacy.

In pursuit of its mission, A Better City brings together work in the three core program areas of Transportation and Infrastructure, Land Use and Development, and Energy and the Environment.

Publications

AN UPDATE ON TRANSPORTATION FINANCE

A Better City released a new report identifying a projected $8.4 billion gap in Massachusetts transportation funding requirements between 2019 and 2028...

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

Allston Multimodal Project

MassDOT and Secretary Pollack announced they would go forward with the "Highway At-Grade Hybrid" option for the Allston Interchange project. This is a collective victory that resulted from A Better City working together in collaboration with the State, City, and a number of stakeholders to see the highway elements of this design at-grade.

READ THE FULL RELEASE

THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION

We are encouraged by Governor Baker’s creation of the Future of Transportation Commission to focus on long-term visioning and planning. Transportation and infrastructure investments may be 20+ years in the making and are subject to changing demographics, technologies, and aspirations, but the visioning needs to be proactive and continuous.

TACTICAL PUBLIC REALM GUIDELINES

A framework for analysis to understand the relationship between mobility and the public realm. It overviews the history of the Greater Boston region's public realm, then describes emerging design and planning strategies to improve the places and corridors that comprise the area's mobility system.

AN OVERVIEW OF ENERGY STORAGE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MA COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

Energy storage has come to the attention of building owners around the country because of the cost savings it delivers, as well as the range of services and benefits it can provide to facilities and the broader electric grid.

TRANSPORTATION DIVIDEND: TRANSIT INVESTMENTS AND THE MA ECONOMY

As home to America’s first subway, Boston has been a transit-oriented city for more than a century and much of our regional economic success is due to the connectivity that a transit system provides.