In Contentious Vote, City Councilors Back Wu’s BPDA Reforms
Starting in July, many of the main functions of the Boston Planning & Development Agency will be transferred over to a new city Planning Department. But key elements remain unresolved.
Be Careful What You Wish For, Madam Mayor
Don’t like the Boston Planning & Development Agency? Think it’s too close to developers and business interests and should be abolished? Just amp up the fractious Boston City Council’s influence on what gets built.
What’s Changing, and Not, at the BPDA
Five years after initially floating the idea as a city councilor, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is closing in on key legal changes to eliminate the Boston Planning & Development Agency. And it’s leaving some in the real estate community scratching their heads at best about what it all means.
Wu Files Ordinance to Replace BPDA with Planning Department
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu took another step forward in her plan to bring the city’s planning and development arm more firmly under the control of elected officials.
Wu Seeks Majority on BPDA Board
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu may be on vacation this week, but she still made a splash in city development politics by announcing she was replacing two members of the board controlling the Boston Planning & Development Agency, an entity she’s sought to dismantle.
Report: Effort Afoot to Unionize BPDA
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s effort to dismantle and replace the Boston Planning & Development Agency could have another obstacle in its path: a unionization drive targeting the quasi-public authority’s staff.
BPDA Asks Developers for Strategies on New Goals
Before it imposes new requirements, the Boston Planning & Development Agency is asking developers for examples of successful strategies to meet Mayor Michelle Wu’s three-legged reform platform of resiliency, affordability and equity.
Boston City Council OK’s Rent Control, BPDA Revamp
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu scored big victories on two of her signature campaign pledges Wednesday. But both proposals must now run the gauntlet on Beacon Hill before they can become law.
Boston Councilors Query Proposed BPDA Mission Changes
If Boston is going to be able to meet the challenges of the moment, its body overseeing development needs a new charter, Boston Planning & Development Agency officials argued to city councilors Monday.
Wu’s Speech Raises Many Questions
Some ideas Mayor Michelle Wu pitched in her State of the City speech could help make up for planned hikes in development fees. But her proposals will take time to implement, something Boston doesn’t have. It’s time the mayor invites industry into the affordability conversation to help find immediate solutions.
Wu’s Pledge to Streamline BPDA Is Familiar Tune
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s pledge to “streamline” the development approval process is a familiar one for anyone tracking Boston’s real estate scene. Will this time be any more successful than her four predecessors’ efforts?
Wu Administration Seeks ‘Chief of Planning’
The first flicker of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s avowed effort to reform development practices in Boston has appeared, in the form of a job posting for a new “chief of planning.”
Boston City Councilor: Heed Seaport Lessons at Suffolk Downs
A Boston City Council member is warning that lessons from development in the city’s seaport area must be heeded as Suffolk Downs is redeveloped in East Boston, and calling for a major overhaul of the city’s planning and development agency.
Wu Misses Mark with Solution to BPDA’s Problems
If Boston City councilor and apparent mayoral wannabe Michelle Wu thinks condo prices and apartment rents are bad in Boston today, she should wait until her new, suburban-style planning board takes charge.
Walsh, Golden Defend BPDA Reforms Against Call for Agency’s Abolition
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Boston Planning & Development Agency Director Brian Golden defended the agency and their reform efforts in the wake of attacks and calls for the agency’s dismantlement by at-large City Councilor Michelle Wu, widely speculated as a potential 2021 challenger to Walsh.
