What is a vision plan? A vision plan is a graphic document that describes how a community’s long term goals and objectives may be achieved. It should be ambitious, yet realistic; clear yet not prescriptive.
A vision plan is not an end in and of itself, but rather a means to an end, one very important step in a redevelopment process that will take several years to complete. While the many drawings and models contained in this report describe a plan for this place in some detail, it is likely that the final built form will only approximate this design, reflecting the inevitable changes in real estate markets, the opportunities offered by entrepreneurs and partners who may or may not come forward and the willingness of the community to support those uses that the private development market cannot support.
If there are so many uncertainties going forward, why is it important to go through a process to create a specific plan? Because in the process of creating a specific plan, it is possible to discover those essential parts of a flexible planning framework that are needed to protect the community’s long term goals and objectives – the major roads, the principal open spaces, and generalized land uses. In this way the vision plan is the foundation for the next step in the process – a redevelopment plan on which the negotiations with developers and other potential partners will be based.
The creation of the redevelopment plan must itself be a public process that, like the vision plan, results in a document that is prescriptive enough to ensure Somerville is supported by the highest quality development and yet is flexible enough to accommodate the inevitable uncertainties of a long term effort. Indeed, a developer may well have a great idea that this process did not uncover. This is important to remember as discussions around the vision plan continue – and they should continue – the discussion should focus on the big ideas and not become bogged down in the details of any one development program or building configuration. The redevelopment plan process will create ample opportunities for those more detailed discussion which by that time will be based on more detailed information.
This suggests the other product of this process, a product as important as the drawings and models – the increased understanding by a large constituency of Somerville residents about the many complex dimensions of this initiative – from building typologies to fiscal and market analysis, to “green infrastructure.” This is an exciting but very complex undertaking and the better informed the residents of Somerville are, the better the outcome will be. For this reason, this report documents the process as much as it does the current outcome. Over time, as new constituents are brought into the process, they must understand the basis for the decisions that were made so that this vision can remain dynamic and relevant, not static and outdated.
This report summarizes a more-than-a-year-long public process. It also summarizes the key findings from several other technical reports that are too long to put directly into this document. These include: “Economic, Demographic and Financial Implications of the Somerville Landfill Redevelopment Program,” prepared by Richard B. Reading Associates; “Traffic Engineering Summary: Transit Oriented Development Somerville Landfill Site,” prepared by Vollmer Associates LLP; “Borough of Somerville Market and Planning Evaluation, Somerville Landfill Site,” prepared by Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc; and “Summary of the Place Audit,” prepared by Project for Public Spaces, Inc. These technical reports are incorporated by reference into this document and are part of this official Vision Plan. A set of design guidelines is also in process, and that document as well is incorporated here by reference.
With this document, we believe the citizens of Somerville have mapped out a roadmap for the future that can have on-going value in guiding their decisions as they take advantage of this incredibly exciting opportunity
Acknowledgements
Authored by
Robert Lane
Senior Fellow for Urban Design
David Kooris
Former Associate Planner, Regional Design Programs
