Matta-plan
The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) recently released a detailed report with zoning and planning recommendations for Mattapan, as part of the sweeping "Imagine Boston 2030" planning revision. The BPDA vision for Mattapan encompasses a neighborhood where “a resident can obtain all their basic needs and material wants within a 10-minute walk” according to the 93-page long PLAN: Mattapan document. The idea of being able to reach “all basic and material needs and wants” in just ten minutes is upping the ante on the idea of the “15 minute city” a current favorite concept of urban planners around the world. In the UK, the idea of the 15 minute city (15mC or FMC to the cognoscenti) is also paired with strong feelings about the urgent need to reverse climate change by reducing automotive emissions. City planners in Oxford (England) were shocked to find that there was vehement opposition to their proposal to create 15 minute zones, which severely limited where residents could and couldn't drive their cars. People driving outside of their allotted 15 minute radius would be fined 70 pounds (about $85) when driving outside of the allowed zones. Thousands of Oxford residents signed petitions protesting the enforced no-drive zones and the planners were simply astonished that residents felt their rights were being impinged upon and took to calling those opposed to the plan conspiracy theorists and "flat earthers".PLAN: Mattapan believes that the way to reach the 10 minute walkability goal is to implement significant zoning changes, including allowing more business development in residential neighborhoods (outside of the Mattapan Square area where business is now concentrated and also by adding residential development in the Square).The proposed zoning changes will also allow ADUs by right, encourage microunits, and expand multi-family zoning throughout the neighborhood, especially around transit hubs, which supports the walkability goal.One such development has already happened. The Loop at Mattapan Station, built on a former parking lot, opened in April 2023. It contains 135 affordable apartments, all of which are reserved for households earning less than the area median income (which is $112,150 for a family of four). The Loop at Mattapan Station also contains 10,000 SF of storefront retail and a 2,000 SF fitness room for residents. There are plans, according to the Globe to build a second building with nine affordable condo units.PLAN: Mattapan touts itself as having been created with significant community input, unlike the top-down Oxford 15 minute zones. Mattapan residents have often felt left out and left behind when it comes to businesses and infrastructure. “Greater Mattapan didn’t get to where it is overnight,’’ said Fatima Ali-Salaam, chair of the Greater Mattapan Neighborhood Council in a Globe article. “It’s a buildup of decades of neglect.’’ PLAN: Mattapan envisions an urban planner’s utopia – ample bike and pedestrian access, abundant public transit (by extending the Mattapan T line into Readville and electrifying the Fairmount Line, plus increasing bus traffic), more open space, larger front setbacks for new development, and trees planted along the sidewalks. It has a vision “to proactively shape development and investment” and prioritizes small local businesses over national chains.Many of the zoning changes are in effect in other Boston neighborhoods and sub-neighborhoods, such as Neighborhood Shopping (NS) and Multi-Family Residential (MFR) zones, that allow increased residential and business density along key neighborhood corridors.The plan goes into very minute details of how to improve Mattapan, such as by hanging public banners that “honor and affirm residents’ cultural identity”. The BPDA is going through the same process in other neighborhoods in the city and we can expect more planning and zoning changes in the next few years. The last time the city's zoning laws were revised (city-wide) was 50 years ago and the "Imagine Boston 2030" initiative is an attempt to bring the city's planning and zoning regulations into the 21st century.