Making our way downtown, where things will soon look + feel different if everything goes according to the City of Boston’s plan to revitalize the area.
The goal: Create a thriving downtown space for everyone to connect, live, work, and play in new + exciting ways. What’s not to love about that?
Since the pandemic closures + challenges, downtown is still on the road to recovery, with the foot traffic still around half of the pre-COVID-19 counts and only ~30% of area offices are occupied.
The revitalization plan includes expanding housing options, enhancing economic opportunity for women + minority-owned businesses, and supporting connectivity and mobility downtown.
How are they going to do it?
- Relaunch PLAN Downtown.
- Identify alternative uses for city-owned public space, like City Hall Plaza.
- Fund new events + programming and continue Together Again Boston events.
- Introduce “pedestrianization” of certain streets (think: Open Newbury).
- Launch a $9 million program in December to provide rent subsidies for retail businesses across the city.
- Re-imagine Faneuil Hall Marketplace + Quincy Market.
Want to be part of the conversation? Plan ahead to join the PLAN: Downtown team in relaunching the Downtown planning process at the kick-off event on Wed., Nov. 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. in Downtown Crossing. Bonus: There will be hot cider since the meeting will be outside.
Tell us: what will motivate you to spend more time downtown?
