Tag: PVPC

job opportunities with WalkBoston & partner organizations

job opportunities with WalkBoston & partner organizations

Position: WalkBoston part-time office administrator

Description: WalkBoston is looking for a part-time office administrator to become a core member of our team. The job is a mix of accounting, human resources, and office management. See full job listing

How to Apply: Please submit your resume and a cover letter to jobs@walkboston.org by Dec 15, 2018.


Position: Boston’s Safest Driver Program Manager

Description: The City of Boston is seeking a part-time Program Manager for the second edition of the Boston’s Safest Driver competition set to launch in the winter of 2018. Boston’s Safest Driver is a key educational program element of Mayor Walsh’s Vision Zero initiative aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries from our roadways by 2030. Applicants should be excited to engage with Boston drivers and form new partnerships! See full job listing

Position Dates: December 2018 – July 2019; up to 30 hours per week, pay based upon experience.

How to Apply: Cover letters and resumes can be sent to Kristopher.Carter@boston.gov.


Position: CommonWheels Program Director

Description: A recent recipient of a 3-year grant from Boston Children’s Hospital, CommonWheels Bicycle Collective is now poised for growth and is searching for an energetic and resourceful part-time Program Director to help expand and grow the organization’s programs and outreach. The ideal candidate will have experience in program development and management, excellent communication and relationship building skills, be comfortable working for a small community based non-profit, and have the ability to work independently. Experience with education and youth programming and/or bicycle mechanics are beneficial, but not required. See full job listing

How to Apply: Please send a resume and brief (one page) cover letter to hiring@commonwheels.org with the subject line “Program Director.”


Position: Land Use/Zoning Planner, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission

Description: Under the supervision of the Manager of the Land Use & Environment Section, performs a wide variety of planning tasks necessary to implement Valley Vision, the regional land use plan of our innovative and forward-thinking 21st century Regional Planning Agency, with responsibility for 43 cities and towns in a region of over 630,000 people located in beautiful western Massachusetts.

Requires familiarity with the principles, practices, and methods of land use planning and especially municipal zoning and related planning board technical assistance; strong project management; exceptional communication and community engagement ability; familiarity and experience with planning boards and local development regulations; experience implementing, and knowledge of, Massachusetts zoning and subdivision rules and regulations. See full job listing

How to Apply: Please forward cover letter, resume, and 3 professional references via email by January 5, 2019 to: Catherine Ratté, Manager Land Use & Environment Section cratte@pvpc.org


Position: Housing Planner, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission

Description: The Land Use and Environment Section of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission seeks a highly qualified and motivated Housing Planner (at either entry level or senior level) to focus on Housing planning while working collaboratively with colleagues in the PVPC Land Use & Environment section. This person will work with cities, towns, the state and federal government, and partner organizations to advance municipal housing planning and policy work, including assisting member municipalities to modify local land use zoning regulations to facilitate housing access and affordability. See full job listing

How to Apply: Submit a cover letter, resume, 3 references, and a brief work sample by target date of 12-07-2018 to Timothy W. Brennan, Executive Director, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, 60 Congress Street, Springfield, MA 01040, OR – by email to Land Use/Environment Section Manager Catherine Ratté at cratte@pvpc.org.

Congrats to this year’s Golden Shoe Award Winners!

Congrats to this year’s Golden Shoe Award Winners!

As presented at this year’s annual event on March 29, 2017

See the list of all time winners:
https://walkmass.org/events/goldenshoe-award

Alison Pultinas | Persistent, effective Mission Hill/Roxbury citizen activist
Alison Pultinas is a leading Mission Hill activist and a key member of the Friends of Melnea Cass Boulevard. Alison has been a guiding hand for the design of the Melnea Cass roadway as it has evolved from a roadway widening project to a Complete Street. Throughout the five-year advocacy effort, Alison has been persistent and effective, providing key institutional memory, recalling comment letters sent and informal decisions reached.
Alison is a strong advocate for development that is not dependent upon automobiles. She is a key ally of WalkBoston and consistently encourages WalkBoston to attend meetings and to respond to projects, like the proposed Tremont Crossing mixed-use development. She keeps watch over several of the outdoor stairways which connect walking routes on the hilly landscape of Mission Hill, cleaning and shoveling when needed. Alison is happy to report that the reconstruction of the Hayden Street Stairs, a City of Boston Public Works project, is upcoming. She also writes for the monthly community newspaper, The Fenway News, with a focus on development and historic preservation issues.

Sarah Bankert, Healthy Hampshire | Rural walking advocate in Western Massachusetts
Sarah Bankert conceived of the Route 202 – Common to Courthouse Corridor Study in Belchertown, which brought together municipal staff, Belchertown seniors, and economic development entities to work toward a shared goal of a safer, higher quality walking experience along Route 202. Sarah and her team’s efforts attracted the attention of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Design & Resiliency Team (DART) who conducted a multi-day workshop which resulted in a “Three Villages & A Farm: Belchertown Beyond” case study report. She is also leading efforts to improve health and walkability in 14 towns in Hampshire County as part of the MDPH 1422 grant.

Caitlin Marquis, Healthy Hampshire | Rural walking advocate in Western Massachusetts
Caitlin Marquis has been a committed voice for incorporating physical activity – particularly walking – into town-wide planning efforts in Williamsburg. She contributed to the formation of the Facilities Master Plan Committee, plays an advisory role with seniors at the Williamsburg Council on Aging, and promotes healthy food choices at the local town center market. Her efforts demonstrate how walkability permeates so many aspects of the daily lives of Williamsburg residents. Caitlin also works to improve health and walkability in 14 towns in Hampshire County as part of the MDPH 1422 grant.

Dillon Sussman, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission | Rural walking advocate in Western Massachusetts Dillon Sussman, a land use planner at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC), has also brought walkability to the rural towns of Hampshire County. Dillon conducted a Health Aging and Community Design regulatory review in Williamsburg and directed the town’s Facilities Master Planning efforts. He also authored the adaptation of PVPC’s Healthy Community Design Tool-Kit to include age-friendly design elements that are applicable across the Commonwealth.

Michelle Wu, Boston City Council President
Boston City Council President Michelle Wu has elevated the conversation about walking (and bicycling and transit) at the City Council, in City Hall, and among many Bostonians. Her proactive efforts to reach out to WalkBoston and many of our fellow activists about the importance of making Boston safer for people walking in the City has helped keep active transportation efforts alive in Boston. Partnership with Councilor Wu is particularly powerful as we work with many City departments, grassroots organizations and residents to implement Vision Zero.

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Weymouth: Making Safe Routes for Seniors

Weymouth: Making Safe Routes for Seniors

by Nicholas Bulens, Grant Writer & Researcher, Town of Weymouth

In the summer of 2014, WalkBoston partnered with the Town of Weymouth to open a conversation between municipal staff and older adults about creating a safer, more attractive walking environment. The Safe Routes for Seniors initiative was a true convergence of advocacy and policy, resulting in a set of design guidelines and program alternatives to better coordinate the town’s
capital planning process with greater walkability. The initiative has helped springboard Weymouth toward a healthier approach to community design.

Weymouth is a mature suburban community situated about 12 miles southeast of Boston. The town has a strong residential character with many attributes of a walkable environment. Weymouth has four village centers, each featuring a mix of land uses that helps create a sense of place for residents. It also has a diverse open space network interspersed among many settled neighborhoods. There is also a good mix of transit services, including commuter rail and bus, which help connect Weymouth’s people and places. However, in spite of these attributes, the town has grown increasingly dependent on the automobile for transportation in the last 50 years. Simultaneously, Weymouth’s population has aged and diversified to where almost one in every four residents is over age 60.

Recognizing a need to analyze the built environment from a healthy aging perspective, Weymouth received a grant from the Massachusetts Council on Aging, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health [MDPH], to conduct a senior pedestrian safety study. Municipal staff collected data on Weymouth’s housing, land use and pedestrian crashes. The data led the town to identify four areas of need where seniors could most benefit from improved walking conditions.

WalkBoston facilitated a public meeting between municipal staff and an audience of over 30 older adults. Residents raised important concerns about poorly maintained sidewalks, obstructed lines of sight and distressed crosswalks. WalkBoston then hit the streets with a diverse focus group of municipal staff, senior residents and local businesspeople. A wealth of observations were made, and ideas flowed freely between stakeholders.

Weymouth’s walkability investigation culminated in the publication of the Safe Routes for Seniors Design Guidelines and Planning Report. WalkBoston introduced municipal staff to new and innovative approaches to streetscape improvements, including “lighter quicker cheaper” placemaking, which could facilitate safer, more frequent foot traffic by older adults in the town’s target areas. Weymouth’s planning staff prepared the final report to summarize the initiative’s findings and recommend design guidelines for town planning moving forward.

The Safe Routes for Seniors initiative has already led Weymouth to take a number of steps toward enhancing walkability. For 2015, Weymouth’s Mayor Susan Kay has committed $150,000 to sidewalk improvements and indicated that she will budget up to $250,000 for the same purpose each year thereafter. Plans are also under way by municipal staff to develop a Complete Streets policy and apply for certification under the MassDOT’s new Complete Streets program. In addition, the town has received a technical assistance grant from the MDPH to develop a zoning action plan with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission [PVPC], a leader in the movement to design healthier communities. The PVPC will advise Weymouth on how to facilitate healthy eating and more physical activity in the community through changes to local zoning provisions, such as reduced parking requirements and site plan review.

This article was featured in our Summer 2015 newsletter. See the full newsletter & past editions here.

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