Moving Beyond the Pandemic in the Pioneer Valley

Economic Development Assessment of Small Towns & Rural Communities

In 2022, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) hired Barrett Planning Group to assess local economic conditions and the state of economic recovery in the 35 small towns and rural communities in Hampshire County and Hampden County. We consulted with local officials, town planners, and regional economic development and community development organizations, and gathered, analyzed, and mapped available market, economic, land use, housing, and labor force data.

From these many sources and others, we created 35 town profiles with maps and economic metrics, and developed recommendations for PVPC and the communities to move forward with economic development activities scaled to the size and character of these small communities:

  • Improving regional communications and coordination
  • Activating strategies for promoting local businesses
  • Addressing the region’s housing affordability and housing supply constraints
  • Holding regional and inter-local economic development roundtables
  • Building recreational, agricultural, and heritage tourism development
  • Zoning reform: aligning local control with twenty-first century zoning
  • Working on local economic development assessments

On December 9, 2022, American Planning Association Massachusetts awarded the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission the 2022 Planning Project Award to this project.

Learn more about other award recipients here:
https://www.apa-ma.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-APA-MA-Awards-1.pptx.pdf

Town of Bridgewater Comprehensive Master Plan

Town of Bridgewater MA Comprehensive Master Plan

Bridgewater, Massachusetts

Barrett Planning Group began working with the Town of Bridgewater in 2018 to develop Phase I of a master plan. Our initial scope of work included developing a plan vision, overarching goals, and existing conditions reports for the master plan elements described in G.L. c. 41, § 81D, with our partners at McMahon Associates crafting the transportation element. Home to several state institutions including Bridgewater State University, an MBTA Commuter Rail station, and the Old Colony Correctional Center, the Town has unique opportunities and challenges that shape conversations about land use and comprehensive planning that we considered from the outset of our work.

We began the process working with an appointed Comprehensive Master Plan Committee (CMPC) and conducting focus groups with staff, Town officials, business owners, and other stakeholders. We launched the public face of the project with a community visioning session for citizens to share their aspirations for Bridgewater’s future. This event was closely followed by a workshop for residents to discuss the continued relevance of the Town’s 2002 master plan goals. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we shifted to virtual engagement opportunities, including an online survey of draft goals and strategies developed with the CMPC to ensure our understanding of the community’s priorities was on target.

At this time, the Town approached us about continuing the project beyond Phase I to develop an implementation program. After addressing CMPC and staff comments on draft existing conditions reports, we finalized our work with the CMPC and began developing implementation program with Town staff. We held a public implementation workshop to allow the community to provide additional input on draft recommendations.

Final recommendations and an accompanying implementation program were paired with our Phase I work to create a complete master plan. In the early months of 2022, we worked with the Planning Board to refine the final plan, which the Board unanimously approved in May 2022.