District Management for Downtown Vitality

Ingredients and Recipes for Success

Ben Forman, Andre Leroux and Elise Rapoza
Commercial districts need a high volume of foot traffic to support thriving small businesses. Supplemental district management services can dramatically increase this pedestrian activity. In recent years, there has been widespread interest in forming district management organizations (DMOs) to provide these services in all types of communities throughout the commonwealth. By unpacking the toolset Massachusetts read more
Topic(s): Economic Development, Gateway Cities, Transformative Transit-Oriented Development

Community Capital for Small Businesses

A Study of the CDFI and CDC Ecosystem in Massachusetts

Matt Brewster, Meaghan Phillips and Elise Rapoza
Prepared in partnership with P2 Advisors, this new study explores small business lending services provided by federally certified Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) and state certified Community Development Corporations (CDCs). Through a survey of 22 CDFIs and CDCs, we find these organizations doubled capital deployment to Massachusetts’ underserved small business with federal recovery funds. However, read more
Topic(s): Economic Development, Gateway Cities, Transformative Transit-Oriented Development

Accelerating Inclusive Growth in the Pioneer Valley

A Prospectus for Transformative Economic Investment

Ben Forman and Dan Hodge
Accelerating Inclusive Growth in the Pioneer Valley is an economic development prospectus for western Massachusetts. Prepared in partnership with Cambridge Econometrics, the analysis calls attention to the region’s competitive advantages in food science, advanced materials, and clean energy. The report makes the case for targeted state investment in the Pioneer Valley, and describes how a read more
Topic(s): Jobs and Economic Security, Economic Development, Gateway Cities

Empowering Cities to Accelerate Equitable Growth

A State Policy Blueprint for Inclusive Municipal Contracting

Ben Forman, Angelia Heimsoth, Priya Lane, Miles Roper and Oren Sellstrom
Prepared in partnership with Lawyers for Civil Rights, this study surveys the landscape for inclusive municipal procurement in Massachusetts. The analysis reveals large racial and ethnic disparities in public contracting and surfaces changes in state law that will empower cities to implement effective supplier diversity policies. Building on a 2021 MassINC report highlighting the economic imperative to support read more
Topic(s): Jobs and Economic Security, Economic Development, Gateway Cities

From Transactional to Transformative: The Case for Equity in Gateway City Transit-Oriented Development

Tracy A. Corley, PhD, Ben Forman, Elizabeth Haney and Catherine Tumber
Transformative Transit-Oriented Development recognizes that equity is the key to transforming cities and towns in Massachusetts, and the country. In Massachusetts, a decades long economic boom has not always reached Gateway Cities, yielding uneven growth and investment that have deepened inequities across places, races, classes and cultures. The coronavirus pandemic has amplified these disparities. To read more
Topic(s): Strong Communities, Economic Development, Transportation, Gateway Cities, Transformative Transit-Oriented Development

Using 40R and 43D to Stimulate Transformative Transit-Oriented Development in Gateway Cities

Elizabeth Haney
This policy brief is the third in a series exploring state and local level approaches to generating transformative transit-oriented development (TTOD) in Gateway Cities. This brief examines two additional state incentive programs—43D Expedited Permitting and 40R Smart Growth Zoning—as tools to spur Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in Gateway Cities read more
Topic(s): Economic Development, Transportation, Gateway Cities, Transformative Transit-Oriented Development

Combining HDIP and OZ for Transformative Transit-Oriented Development in Gateway Cities

Tracy A. Corley, PhD and Andrés Paxton-Martin
This policy brief is the second in a series exploring state and local level approaches to generating transformative transit-oriented development (TTOD) in Gateway Cities. Here, our thinking is that the state’s commuter rail system would receive much more use—and spur greater, more transformative Gateway City investment—if rail station areas were primed for compact TOD. The read more
Topic(s): Economic Development, Transportation, Gateway Cities, Research, Transformative Transit-Oriented Development

Building Communities of Promise and Possibility

State and Local Blueprints for Comprehensive Neighborhood Stabilization

Ben Forman and Alan Mallach
In recent years, much attention has been trained on Greater Boston’s tight housing market and the increasingly severe difficulty residents have finding affordable housing in the region. There is much less awareness of the very different challenge faced by residents of weak market neighborhoods, where housing is much less expensive but conditions are physically, socially, read more
Topic(s): Economic Development, Gateway Cities, Research

Opportunity Zones and Transformative Transit-Oriented Development in Gateway Cities

Catherine Tumber and Andrés Paxton-Martin
This policy brief is the first in a series exploring state and local level approaches to generating transformative transit-oriented development (TTOD) in Gateway Cities. Here, we examine strategies to maximize the benefits of the new federal Opportunity Zone Program. The analysis centers on Massachusetts’ census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones. Our findings show that the read more
Topic(s): Economic Development, Transportation, Gateway Cities, Transformative Transit-Oriented Development
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