The Latest from CommunityScale
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Five lessons learned drafting an MBTA Communities overlay for Lowell
MBTA Communities (also known as Section 3A) is an exciting and bold program that affordable housing proponents and lawmakers from across the country are closely watching to see what kind of impact can be…
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How good urban design can make city residents healthier
What makes us healthy? It’s not just hospitals. The biggest influence on our health is our physical environment and behavior. With most of the world’s population living in cities, urban design has a responsibility…
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Strategy
CommunityScale’s housing strategy work is the bridge from analysis to action. Every Housing Forecast or market study ends with a production target; every strategy engagement turns that target into a concrete list of things…
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Surveys
CommunityScale designs and deploys community housing surveys to capture resident experience, preferences, and priorities at scale. Surveys complement the quantitative analysis (Census, CoStar, HUD, Zillow) with lived experience and forward-looking preferences — the two…
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Engagement
CommunityScale’s projects are informed by local perspectives, such stakeholder engagement to add expertise and ideas to the process and enrich the outcomes. Our community engagement builds common priorities We work with communities to create…
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Commercial Triangle Neighborhood Plan
The Commercial Triangle Neighborhood Plan is a comprehensive project designed to revitalize a rapidly evolving post-industrial urban area into a transit-oriented district through strategic planning and design in Everett, Massachusetts. The plan focuses on…
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How smart cities can become resilient to extreme heat
Extreme heat is the leading cause of climate-related death in the United States, more deadly than hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding, and cities feel it most as buildings and roads push urban temperatures up to…
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Downtown Hammond, IN Master Plan (CNU award)
After decades of economic decline, downtown Hammond was poised for a turnaround as new commuter rail service to Chicago and a surprisingly robust housing market took shape. Working with urban planner Jeff Speck while…
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Riverside TOD Design Guidelines
Mark Development’s transformational transit-oriented proposal next to Newton’s Riverside light rail station promised a dense, walkable neighborhood, but realizing that vision required clear governing standards. Working with Jeff Speck while at Stantec, CommunityScale developed…
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Everett Design Regulations
CommunityScale team members wrote the Everett Design Regulations working closely with Everett staff and the Everett Planning Board. Capitalizing on Everett’s increasing attractiveness in the market, the regulations help the City translate increasing development…
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Local Rapid Recovery Program
As downtowns across Massachusetts worked to recover from the economic shock of COVID-19, several needed practical, implementation-focused plans to guide their next steps. While at Stantec, members of the CommunityScale team led the development…
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Elkhart, IN River District Implementation Plan (CNU award)
Once reliant on manufacturing, Elkhart’s leaders knew the city needed to diversify its economy and revitalize its riverfront. The City’s public-private River District Implementation Team had begun recruiting developers, but members grew concerned the…
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Mixed use district zoning for onMain, Dayton
CommunityScale team members authored a mixed use district ordinance for the City of Dayton, Ohio, with the developers of onMain as the client. The zoning was adopted unanimously by the City of Dayton. The…
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Northland Needham Development Master Plan
Northland Investment wanted to reinvent a classic strip mall in Newton, Massachusetts, an older suburb of Boston, transforming it into a focal point with a strong sense of character. CommunityScale did not have to…
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What if your neighborhood could make you healthier?
The places where people live and work are the single largest contributors to our health, and this post shows how the WELL Community Standard lets planners build health promotion into the fabric of neighborhoods.…
