By Amber Morris
In 2015, Arlington released a master plan to serve as a roadmap for the town’s future, outlining where and how it would grow, what it should protect, and what steps would turn community values into policy.
The plan, “Your Town, Your Future,” listed eight major elements — land use, housing, economic development, natural and cultural resources, open space and recreation, services and facilities, transportation and circulation, and an implementation plan. While several have seen significant progress, some remain incomplete, delayed or ongoing a decade later.
“There is always more to do, and that is why we have a process every 10 years to get input from the community to refine and prioritize our efforts for the next 10 years,” said Joan Roman, Arlington’s public information officer.
As the town works on a new comprehensive plan, “AmpUp!,” here are four areas outlined in the 2015 master plan that remain incomplete or ongoing.
Open space and recreation
Along with the master plan, the town produced an action plan outlining open space and recreation priorities for 2015 to 2022. That and other public documents listed parcels the town hoped to buy and trails it wanted to build and connect. But many of those projects require funding or land access, so some remain unfinished or not completed.
Because open space and trail projects depend on timing and available land, unfinished acquisitions and missing links mean some opportunities the master plan envisioned may no longer be possible.
“There was an attempt by the town to acquire the Mugar property, and that did not happen,” said Greg Dennis, 45, a town meeting member and software engineer.
The Mugar property, between the Alewife Brook Reservation and Thorndike Field, was the largest privately owned underdeveloped tract in the town consisting of mostly open, wooded and wetland areas, according to the 2015 master plan.
The East Arlington property was sold to developers before the town was able to make a solid effort to fund the acquisition. Developers proposed an affordable housing project called Thorndike Place but faced challenges over flooding, traffic and environmental concerns since much of the site lies in the floodplain and wetland area. The property remains vacant.
Land and economic development
Arlington’s 2015 master plan recommended recodifying and updating the zoning bylaw to align it with the plan’s goals. Arlington completed a full recodification of the zoning bylaw that was adopted at a town meeting in February 2018 to clean up and reorganize it.
Since then, the town has continued to pass amendments such as mixed-use development zoning, an accessory dwelling units proposal and MBTA communities multifamily zoning compliance measures, while hosting zoning workshops.
Arlington has partially implemented the master plan’s mixed-use zoning vision but fell short of the scale and reach originally contemplated. These mixed-use proposals have been debated case by case with pushback around scale, traffic and neighborhood compatibility.
There has not been broad rezoning to allow mixed uses in new corridors like Broadway Plaza or East Arlington.
“We fell a little bit short in terms of the amount of mixed use zoning the plan contemplated we’d have,” Dennis said.
Several action items such as allowing more multifamily housing without special permits, updating industrial zoning and creating affordable housing overlay districts remain active and unresolved.
“We haven’t zoned for enough multifamily housing,” Dennis said.
Historic and cultural resources
Arlington published a Historic Preservation Survey Master Plan in April 2019 that builds on the master plan’s recommendations. The survey itself notes that many recommendations are contingent on resources. Documents show at least one component — a town-owned historic property survey component for Arlington High School — was determined not to be a priority.
The 2015 master plan called for strengthening the historic resources inventory and demolition review. While the public survey is progress, it shows some tasks remained unfunded or deprioritized.
“Of course we would love it to all happen, but it’s a vision document, so when opportunities come up, we can move because we know what the community wants,” Roman said.
Transportation and pedestrian/bicycle improvements
The 2015 master plan includes pedestrian, bicycle and transit recommendations to improve safety, including a call for more sidewalks and bike paths. While improvements have been steady, there’s ongoing community discussion calling for continued investment in traffic calming and walkability.
“There’s never quite enough money on hand to do all the things you want,” said Adam Lane, 54, a town meeting member who works as a library assistant.
The town has upgraded some sidewalks and crossings through its Complete Streets program, but there are still stretches of road without continued sidewalks, and traffic-calming projects mentioned in the plan remain on Arlington’s not-ready-for-construction list.
“There’s a lot of focus on the Appleton Street intersection with Massachusetts Avenue and the accidents that have happened there,” Dennis said.
A design review process for that intersection was launched after the 2020 death of a bicyclist who was struck by a driver. The town posted a project update in May 2024 releasing the final design and in October 2024 announced it was awarded a grant, but construction hasn’t begun.
Larger initiatives such as the Mystic River path connection to the Minuteman Bikeway are still in design and funding stages after years of feasibility work and coordination with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Department of Conservation & Recreation.
There is a meeting scheduled for tonight, Thursday, Oct. 30, on the plan. From the town’s website: Arlington’s consultant, Stantec, will lead an interactive community meeting to update residents on the planning process. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the Comprehensive Plan update, ask questions, and let us know your thoughts and ideas. The workshop will be held Oct. 30, 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Arlington High School Cafeteria, 869 Mass. Ave. A virtual option is also available. For more information on Arlington’s Comprehensive Plan Update, please visit ArlingtonMA.gov/CompPlan.
This story, originally published Oct. 30, 2025, is part of a partnership between Your Arlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.