TTOD TALK Blog

The TTOD TALK Blog aims to stimulate a conversation around Transformative Transit-Oriented Development (TTOD). We invite you to share your feedback in the comments or to our team at ttod@massinc.org. We’d also like to hear about ways in which your city or town has been transforming transit-oriented neighborhoods across Massachusetts.

Note that the opinions expressed here represent the views of the individual author, not MassINC. We reserve the right to remove any posts that do not contribute to meaningful dialogue about how we can transform Massachusetts cities through transit-oriented development.

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Take The #TTODTalkChallenge!

MassINC is on a mission to support livable communities – and that has to start with community residents. Help us show the need for community space, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic changes the way we use public spaces by taking the #TTODTalkChallenge!

Christopher Coes’ Four Crazy Ideas to Catalyze TOD

Gateways Episode 43

MassINC recently held the Seventh Annual Gateway Cities Innovation Institute Awards & Summit at the DCU Center in Worcester. Today’s episode brings you a highlight from the gathering—the morning keynote delivered by Christopher Coes, Vice President of Land Use and Development at Smart Growth America.

MassINC Insights

Gateways Episode 38

This week on Gateways, we bring you an episode of MassINC Insights, the first installment in a series of conversations with the journalists, researchers, and pollsters of MassINC, The MassINC Polling Group and CommonWealth. The nonprofit consistently leads the way in producing nonpartisan research and

Gateway City leaders speak on opportunity zones

Gateways Episode 34.5

On this bonus episode of Gateways, we continue the conversation on federal Opportunity Zones legislation. Last episode, our guests broke down what Opportunity Funds can do and pointed out areas where they are failing the highest-need communities in our Commonwealth.

Fares for Gateway Cities residents are off the rails

Gateways Episode 32

MassINC recently published a report on fare equity that confirmed what most of us already know: the lowest-wealth Commonwealth residents pay more of their incomes to get around the state than wealthier folks. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the MBTA’s commuter rail network, a public

Tackling Smog and Congestion with TCI

Gateways Episode 30

Traffic congestion in Massachusetts has reached crisis proportions. And while some leaders and officials assure it’s a “symptom of success,” that explanation offers little solace to Bay Staters stuck in mind-numbing traffic everyday. To top it off, gas and diesel-burning cars, trucks, and trains dominate greenhouse

Opinion Analysis | Exploring how Massachusetts can raise revenue and fund investments

Recapping the Get Smart Forum in Cambridge

On June 13, 2019, leaders from business, transportation, and policy gathered in Cambridge for the Get Smart Forum to discuss how Massachusetts can raise revenue and fund investments in transportation. According to the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Transportation, our Gateway Cities rely on “Robust public and other transportation modes that connect burgeoning and

Opinion Analysis | Inclusive Economies come from Including People

EOHED MetroWest Engagement Session

On the morning of June 25th, Framingham State University hosted the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development’s (EOHED) final Engagement Session. This nine-stop, 1,200-participant tour is an early step in developing the Office’s four-year state economic development plan which will be presented to the Baker Administration at the end of the year. Meetings

Opinion Analysis | Massachusetts Has Climate Change Policy in the (Green) Works

Bill aims to help cities meet carbon reduction goals and provide infrastructure for climate change mitigation and resilience

On 18 June, 2019, the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy held a hearing on Bill H.3846, “An Act Relative to GreenWorks.” Presented by Representative Thomas A. Golden, Jr. of Middlesex, the bill proposes a bond authorization of $1.3 billion to be directed towards climate mitigation and adaptation strategies across the state. The bill

The art of MART’s health and human services operation

Gateways Episode 25

This week Tracy digs into the health and human services (HHS) transportation operation at the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART). MART’s HHS brokerage delivers more than 6 million rides to medical and healthcare appointments for residents in 70% of Massachusetts. How is the

TOD Big and Small in Fall River

Gateways Episode 21

In this episode of Gateways, Tracy takes a walking tour in the heart of Fall River with private developer Alan Macomber and the city’s executive director of community development, Mike Dion. Our guests explain Fall River’s plans to connect downtown to its vibrant waterfront while creating more market rate

More than one way to ‘transform’ a city

Gateways Episode 15

On this week’s episode of Gateways, Dr. Tracy Corley is joined by Noah Koretz, Director of Transformative Development for MassDevelopment. He discusses his Transformative Development Initiative (TDI), a “place and partnership program” that bolsters the economic development efforts of Gateway Cities.

Walking Through Worcester

Gateways Episode 8.5

Dr. Tracy Corley takes a walk through Worcester along MassINC’s research director Ben Forman and Tim McGourthy, the former Executive Director of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau. The group walks us through the commuter rail stations, theater district, the Common, and the DCU Center, highlighting the

Hooray for Housing Choice and HDIP

Gateways Episode 8

In this episode of Gateways, co-hosts Ben Forman and Dr. Tracy Corley dive deep into state and federal housing policies that stimulate housing development in Gateway Cities. In response to Gov. Baker’s Housing Choice legislation announcement, they analyze its potential impacts on the quantity and quality of housing across the state.

Painting a prettier Salem

Gateways Episode 7.5

Rome wasn’t rebuilt in a day, and neither are Gateway City neighborhoods. In this bonus episode of “Gateways,” Dr. Tracy Corley takes us on a walking tour of Salem’s El Punto neighborhood alongside David Valecillos of the North Shore Community Development Coalition.

Dr. Corley’s big debut, Crighton and Cabral talk about their bill too

Gateways Episode 6

In this episode of GATEWAYS, Aimee and Ben introduce MassINC’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Fellow, Dr. Tracy Corley, who joins the podcast as a new host. We also speak with Representative Cabral and Senator Crighton about the recent neighborhood stabilization bill, which was unveiled last week in the State House by the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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