Massachusetts Complete Streets Program: An Exploratory Spatial and Social Equity Analysis

The effects of transportation planning on equity are often overlooked or not prioritized, sometimes resulting in an inequitable distribution of infrastructure investment with disparities in access. This paper examines the characteristics and distribution of approved Complete Streets projects across Massachusetts using social and spatial methods to analyze trends across socioeconomic demographic data. The methods applied include buffering techniques in GIS software to analyze population data within a half-mile radius of approved projects from 2016-2019. The half-mile measure of proximity is used as a proxy for access, in which descriptive statistics and regression models examine in detail

The Deerfield Street Initiative (Greenfield, MA)

The goal of the Master of Regional Planning Studio is to develop a student’s techniques for collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing spatial and non-spatial data and then presenting that collective data in a manner (i.e., report, video, presentation, and charettes) that is understandable to academics, professionals, and the public. Planning Studio allows students to integrate knowledge from coursework and research, and apply such knowledge to resolving representative planning problems. At UMASS Amherst, these problems are found in neighborhood, rural, urban, and/or regional settings. For the fall 2018 Planning Studio, the Town of Greenfieldtasked the Masters of Regional Planning Studio to prepare a vision plan that focuses on improving Greenfield’sRoute 5 Southern/Deerfield Street Corridor. Greenfield’s Deerfield Street neighborhood serves as the southern gateway to the Downtown. This area has been in transition for several years as the City has invested in housing and infrastructure along this stretch. The key projects have been upgrade of sidewalks, creation of a small riverside park, renovation of distressed housing. Recently, the neighborhood has seen investment in new housing. The Arbors (constructed in 2007) is an upscale assisted housing residence thatalso has low-income housing units. The Green River Commons (2018) consists of eight newhigh performance (energy) modest-sized condominiums with units as fourlow-income housing. In addition, there are several multifamily homes have been or are scheduledfor rehabilitation under the City\u27s Housing Rehab Program