Ongoing Reforms

Public Transparency and Accessibility

• A new user-friendly responsive (mobile friendly) website has been created where information is more easily accessible from any device, 24/7. Information regarding development projects can be located online using a new "timeline" format with the status of a project, including upcoming and past meetings, public comment letters, project manager contact information and all development project filings.
• All BPDA Board meetings are both televised and streamed live.
• Starting in 2016, the BPDA’s annual budget is posted online and is presented annually to the City Council.
• The Agency’s financial audits are available online via the BPDA website.
• A new zoning viewer tool allows people to better access and understand local zoning. We’ve added a new, street view feature to the zoning viewer that displays up-to-date street view imagery, so users can see existing buildings and infrastructure from a real life perspective.
• To better engage the business community, the BPDA digitized the process to promote fairness, access, and transparency in all procurement activities.
• BPDA staff works with developers of large projects under construction to create building wraps to display information about a development project to the public.
• The BPDA now produces yearly reports on the progress on the creation of income-restricted housing through the Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP).
• Since 2014, people have been able to sign up through the BPDA website to receive notifications for planning and development updates by neighborhood.
• The Agency launched the new Article 80 Developer Portal in 2018 to help streamline processes for both BPDA staff and developers. Developers are now required to submit their materials through the portal at five key project status phases.
• The Agency unveiled a new, web-based 3D base model of the City of Boston, available for public use for free on our website. The 3D geographic information system (GIS) model supports the BPDA’s goals to implement new solutions to solve complex challenges facing Boston, while providing greater transparency and increased community engagement.