What's Next for Downtown Lynn?

Mission & Partners

Click on the image above to see a larger version of this aerial photograph of MAPC's Downtown Lynn study area and the surrounding area, including the Lynn Waterfront.

The above statement could be considered a tagline for this project: Lynn is a diverse community with a lot to offer. Build on the vision! We at MAPC hope that the information presented in this website can empower community members from a variety of professional and personal affiliations and with a spectrum of interests to take an active role in pursuing positive changes in Downtown Lynn. The Open House and Public Forum in May 2013 used this tagline as its theme and the photos below are snapshots from this event. (Photos below by James K. Lindley)

Project mission: This project will build upon the existing efforts to revitalize Downtown Lynn by providing geographic data, recommending land use and policy changes, and identifying funding and human capital resources that will lead to strategic, high impact reinvestment.

Project partners: Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the regional planning agency for the people who live and work in 101 cities and towns in Greater Boston, conducted this effort to Build on the Vision for Downtown Lynn with guidance from City of Lynn departments and public agencies, including:

• City of Lynn Office of Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy
• City of Lynn Department of Community Development
• City of Lynn Inspectional Services Department
• Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development
• Economic Development Industrial Corporation of Lynn

In addition to receiving guidance from the municipal departments and agencies, we convened a Team of Advisors for the project, which met in November 2012, February 2013, and April 2013. This Team of Advisors helped to shape project outcomes by providing input at critical intervals. Participants in that group included the above listed departments and agencies as well as representatives of:

• Lynn City Council
• Office of Massachusetts Senator Thomas McGee
• Arts After Hours, Inc.
• Bibby Real Estate Corporation
• Columbia Insurance Agency, Inc.
• Community Credit Union
• Community Minority Cultural Center Community Development Corporation
• Downtown Lynn Neighborhood Association
• Lou Markakis, real estate consultant
• Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce
• Lynn Business Partnership
• Lynn Museum and Historical Society
• New Lynn Coalition
• North Shore Community College
• The Hall Company, Inc.
• RAW Art Works
• Wayne Alarm Systems, Inc.

MAPC interviewed several organizations and individuals in addition those who were able to participate in one or more Team of Advisors meetings. For more details on community engagement during this project, visit the Who We Met section of this website.

Project Funding and Scope of Work: In 2010, MAPC was awarded a $4 million Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant on behalf of the Greater Boston Region by Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an interagency partnership between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This grant supports the implementation of MetroFuture, MAPC's 30-year plan for Greater Boston, and includes numerous projects and sub-grants for local planning efforts, state and regional policy work, development of tools and data, civic engagement, and leadership development. The Metro Boston Sustainable Communities Consortium and Steering Committee directed $85,000 of grant funds for this project in Downtown Lynn, which was matched with additional funding from MAPC. This is the largest single-municipality planning project under this grant program, and represents a significant investment of critical regional importance.

The Scope of Work for work in Downtown Lynn, as approved by the Metro Boston Consortium for Sustainable Communities, included five elements:

1. Public engagement and constituency building
2. Analysis of community assets
3. Analysis of existing regulations and previous planning work
4. Downtown property analysis to assist with predevelopment
5. Final recommendations and revitalization plan

Acknowledgments: Many individuals and organizations contributed to this project in various capacities. MAPC thanks everyone who spoke with us, whether briefly or at length, to share information as well as their hopes and desires for Downtown Lynn. Over the course of this project, we spoke with hundreds of community members and organizational representatives. MAPC looks forward to an ongoing partnership with the City of Lynn and continuing conversations with the community.

• Thank you to the Metro Boston Sustainable Communities Consortium and to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) along with the Partnership for Sustainable Communities for funding this project.
• Our Project Partners and Team of Advisors are listed on this page by affiliation and on the Team of Advisors page of this website by individual names.
• Participants in one-on-one interviews and small group meetings are listed by the type and date of meeting on the Interviews, Presentations, & Events page of this website.
• Many community members participated in events organized by MAPC, which include the Downtown Lynn Data Walk held on April 13, 2013, the What's Next for Downtown Lynn? Open House and Public Forum on May 23, 2013, and the final project presentation at Lynn City Hall on January 14, 2014. These events were critical opportunities for MAPC to learn about Downtown Lynn and to obtain input, including the many quotations by meeting participants used throughout this website.
• Thank you to LocalData for selecting this as a pilot project for your software application, which we were able to use for free.

Image credits: Photos and other images used on this website come from various sources, which are credited with captions where possible. Images are used for illustrative purposes and the usse of these images does not imply endorsement by any persons, businesses, or organizations represented in the images.

• The background image seen on all pages is a photo take from High Rock Reservation found on the DowntownLynn.com blog, taken by Corey Jackson on November 15, 2011.
• Several photos throughout this website, from the May 2013 Open House and Public Forum, were taken by photographer James K. Lindley.
• Many photos were taken by MAPC staff, including Manisha Bewtra, Jennifer Erickson, Clayton Martin, Emily Torres-Cullinane.
• A screenshot of the LocalData application as used on a smartphone, as well as other photos, were provided by Downtown Lynn Data Walk participant Will Ward.
• MAPC created screenshots of websites for illustrative purposes, including a view of the LocalData survey responses for Downtown Lynn, a screenshot of the DowntownLynn.com blog, a screenshot of the Downtown Lynn Cultural District logo from dtlcd.org,
• Images from LynnHappens.com include an image of the DTL Cultural District
• Logos from a variety of organizations were obtained from their websites, Facebook and other sources. Downtown Lynn Neighborhood Association website dtlna.org,
• Wordle
• Maps made by MAPC used data from ESRI, MassGIS, the US Census, and data collected by Downtown Lynn Data Walk participants.