Our region is one of the most segregated parts of the United States and has some of the highest levels of income inequality. RPA analyzes the scope of these structural inequities and works with partners to address them.
Most of the public institutions that govern the region were established in a different era. Because of this legacy, the region’s 782 municipalities are responsible for critical decisions about land use, property taxes, and schools—despite this structure increasing costs, inducing sprawl, and exacerbating inequality. Our transit system is technologically outdated and cannot keep pace with a growing ridership, as the institutions that oversee the subways, trains, and buses are not empowered to properly invest in and upgrade infrastructure. When faced with new challenges such as climate change, public institutions are slow to take action, and do so piecemeal and without adequate funding.
Our goals are to transform the way we govern and pay for transportation and other infrastructure, create new institutions and funding to tackle the existential challenge of climate change, change fundamental inequities in how we govern land use, and make technology a core part of government business. Besides advocating for structural reforms, we assist local governments and regional institutions with planning, community engagement and collaboration across political boundaries.
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Apr 2023
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Apr 2023
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Mar 2023
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Our Areas of Expertise
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![Energy & Environment]()
Energy & Environment
learn moreRPA’s Energy & Environment program helps the region to rise to the challenge of climate change through proactive regional planning, smart policy development, and advocacy for sustainable land use practices.
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![Housing & Neighborhood Planning]()
Housing & Neighborhood Planning
learn moreRPA’s Housing & Neighborhood Planning program explores how to make the region affordable for everyone and builds collaborative local plans focused on healthy, inclusive, and well-designed communities.
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![Transportation]()
Transportation
learn moreRPA’s Transportation program helps shape and strengthen the network of railways, roads, airports and ports that binds the region together and connect us to the rest of the world.
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![Governance]()
Governance
learn moreRPA works to fix the institutions that are failing us by assisting and reforming the governments and agencies responsible for investments and policies that cut across the region’s three states and 782 municipalities.
