Arthur Robert
Look at photographs of many good-sized Massachusetts community’s downtown from 50 years ago and you will see something that has been missing for a while – people. Those photos show people going in and out of stores, making our community centers hum with life.
Across Massachusetts, municipal leaders have struggled over how best to bring that life back to their downtowns. For Framingham, once one of this state’s most vibrant downtowns – and one of the first to become too quiet as industry departed – the answer may be found in a thoughtful rezoning that could bring people back to live, work, shop and eat.
Michael Gatlin
Like so many Massachusetts communities, Framingham’s downtown was once dynamic and self-contained: Between the intersections of Concord and Waverly streets, the downtown had a rail station, major manufacturing facilities teeming with workers, and small businesses lining the sidewalks with apartments upstairs. It even had three movie theaters. It was a place where just about every need, including transportation to Boston, was within walking distance. That concentration of life is what our town is now seeking to recapture. We believe that zoning changes are setting conditions for a transformation that will bring new life to our sidewalks, by encouraging transit-oriented development.
First of all, revitalization is not going to be the product of one single act – Framingham has been working to bring life back to storefronts downtown by providing beautification funds for new signage and exteriors and by working with business owners to locate and grow there. Those efforts have shown results, with new immigrant-owned businesses creating vibrancy, and with modern businesses, like breweries, reusing old manufacturing spaces. Diversity and energy have started to return.
The question became: what would add fuel to drive a faster return to a robust center?
Working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the town created a plan to take advantage of our centrally located commuter rail station. We saw the solution as transit-oriented development – the use of that rail link to draw in not merely customers for businesses, but commuters who would make our downtown their home. But there was a problem: outdated zoning limited our ability to turn that potential housing stock into homes for young people and empty nesters increasingly interested in an urban, less car-dependent living experience.
Rezoning Approved
Last October, Town Meeting voters made a giant leap forward by approving a rezoning plan for downtown Framingham. By overwhelming numbers, Special Town Meeting members voted to support zoning changes to Framingham’s Central Business District with a goal to make the downtown a vibrant, diverse center that will be a hub of economic activity for MetroWest. Critically, these changes move the zoning model from a suburban model to an urban model that supports feasible transit-oriented development.
Under the outdated zoning laws, Framingham discouraged developers from creating the kind of new units – and living experiences – that appeal to young professionals looking to live in a dynamic downtown setting. Through market research, community engagement and discussions with developers, we determined the zoning changes that would reduce development times, cut red tape and speed creation of new living spaces. The changes allow for greater density, lessen the need for special permits, reduce parking requirements and allow for more flexible uses. For the community, these changes promote new pedestrian uses, make our downtown far less “car-centric” and promote a strong urban feel through clear design standards. And for developers, the changes offer a simpler permitting process that reduces uncertainty and clear project review timelines.
Look around your downtown – what if those vacant lots could be turned into homes for young professionals or empty-nesters looking to stay in the community, but at a lower cost and within walking distance of retail, restaurants and commuter rail?
Nearly as important as these concrete zoning changes is the signal they send. With steps like these, artists, higher education branches, cultural organizations, nonprofits and entrepreneurs hear the message that we are trying to create spaces in our community where a diverse culture can once again thrive.
It is not only good for business owners and residents, it is good for taxpayers. At an initial level of redevelopment, the town expects new revenues to exceed related costs. We anticipate that in the near future, downtown Framingham will be yet another transit-oriented success story for Massachusetts. And we are looking forward to the day when communities across the commonwealth are using Framingham as an example of thoughtful, forward-thinking town planning.
Arthur Robert is the community and economic development director for the town of Framingham. Michael Gatlin is the chair of the town of Framingham’s Economic Development and Industrial Corp.
