The Riverside MBTA Station sits along the confluence of I-90 and I-95, and between the villages of Newton Lower Falls and Auburndale.
About the Project
In 2019, CivicMoxie was asked to assist the City of Newton in the preparation of a Vision Plan for the site surrounding Riverside's MBTA station. The planning effort was prepared to assist the city in any decision-making process related to the development of the site, taking into consideration the needs and context of surrounding communities as well as the citywide goals established by elected officials.
The resulting plan established a number of principles to guide the review of any proposed development, based on a robust analysis of the historic, existing, and projected future conditions of both the site itself and its context within the Greater Boston area. The planning effort leaned heavily on public engagement and feedback to assist in the drafting and finalization of overarching design principles and recommendations.
The relationship between the Riverside Vision Plan and proposal by Mark Development.
My Role
In addition to leading research and production of a marketing proposal that won the firm the project, I was responsible for review and synthesis of past plans, on-the-ground qualitative research and documentation of the site. I was also part of the team that engaged in numerous public outreach efforts, while under a severe time constraint considering the typical timeframe for similar projects.
After multiple site visits, public meetings, and visioning exercises within the project team, I helped to produce the final plan, including the creation of various mapping and graphic illustrations of concepts and principles.
The final format of the plan was created so as to be as usable as possible when printed - allowing for "tear away" principles in the form of one-pagers summarizing recommendations and best-practice.
Am overview of the guiding principles and recommendations of the plan.