Amber Morris and Paige Albright
About 50 residents gathered Thursday night to offer opinions about housing, economic development and other issues as town leaders shape Arlington’s new comprehensive plan, which will serve as a roadmap for the next decade.
The workshop, held in the Arlington High School cafeteria, was led by the Department of Planning and Community Development and consultants from Stantec, a global design and planning firm that specializes in sustainable development and community planning.
The comprehensive plan, called AmpUp!, will inform town budgeting and decision-making while measuring progress over time. “This is a plan for the community, by the community,” said Claire Ricker, the director of town planning and community development.
Residents weighed in on major focus areas like housing, transportation, open space and economic development. Poster boards lined the walls, and attendees used stickers to rank which topics they felt deserved the most attention. Here are three that stood out as top priorities.
Housing
Housing in Arlington topped both the community survey results and poster board activity. With prices continuing to climb, many attendees said affordability must be at the center of the new plan.
“I have nine people in my office. I only have one person who lives in town, and nobody can afford it,” Ricker said. “It’s just that expensive. Even folks who work here are struggling with affordability.”
The key question, said Redevelopment Board member Stephen Revilak, is whether the town will increase zoning that allows for more multifamily housing. Currently, 58 percent of Arlington’s land is zoned only for single-family homes, according to Stantec data.
Arlington hopes to be inclusive and address historic issues affecting the affordability crisis, Revilak said, adding that the comprehensive plan must prioritize the issue.
“I’m interested in living in a diverse community,” said Gabrielle Bromberg, 36, an Arlington resident and doctor. “There are a lot of suburbs around Boston that are historically redlined to not be diverse. I’m interested in changing that so my kids can grow up in a place where not everybody looks like them.”
Economic development
Economic development was another key theme of the night and one that town officials admitted was underemphasized in Arlington’s 2015 master plan.
“The 2015 plan was weak on economic development,” Ricker said, noting that the community has indicated that it wants the new plan to strengthen local businesses and diversify the town’s commercial base.
Stantec’s team shared data gathered from their surveys from last spring and summer that had been shared with the community. Response indicated a high demand for increasing, improving and maximizing economic opportunities.
Stantec principal and urban planner Steve Kearney said community voices are at the core of the team’s planning. Stantec has implemented a different approach than what was seen in 2015 by further connecting within the community.
Kearney said the team is developing strategies to reach all members of the community by making themselves more accessible by attending local events like farmers’ markets and town day. Stantec is trying to meet people where they are, rather than waiting for the community to come to them, Kearney said.
Natural resources and open space
Open space and recreation was ranked the second most important topic by respondents in a Stantec survey. Some residents discussed protecting green areas, improving access to parks and trails, and preparing for the impacts of climate change.
Ann LeRoyer, the only member from the 2015 master plan implementation committee serving on the new advisory committee, said she reapplied to help ensure continuity in areas beyond the headline issues of housing and economic development.
“I wanted to be sure that there was some continuity, advocating for those areas, because I knew that housing, business development and transportation would be covered,” LeRoyer said. “I just wanted to be a voice for people who cared about these other topics and to ensure everything is built in a sustainable, thoughtful way.”
The use of native plants and increased tree canopy to reduce urban heat islands and decrease stormwater runoff will continue to be implemented through the open space and recreation 2022 plan.
“I am passionate about thinking about how we can work towards climate goals as a town,” said Sarah Gignoux, an Arlington resident and professor at University of Massachusetts Lowell, “even as the federal government is abandoning its work there.”
This story, originally published Oct. 31, 2025, is part of a partnership between YourArlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.