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CANTON MASTER PLAN


Canton is a desirable place to live because of its great schools, compact town center, easy access to trails in the Blue Hills Reservation, two MBTA stations, and thriving employment centers where jobs outnumber residents. New opportunities for the Town focus on the redevelopment of older industrial sites like the Paul Revere Heritage Site and the Draper Mill. As it looks to the future, Canton has made a commitment to make more sustainable choices around energy efficiency and a plan for the impacts of natural hazards and climate change. The Town currently struggles with a lack of starter homes priced for young adults and families, traffic congestion on local streets, missing walking, and biking connections, and meeting the needs of its growing senior population. 

We led a master plan update that lasted two years for the Town of Canton. Our experienced and dedicated planners developed strategies for tackling complex and conflicting issues for the municipality to deal with over the next 20 years. We assisted with diverse outreach activities, such as public events, online surveys, stakeholder groups, and individual meetings. The goal was to learn what the community values about life in Canton, what could be better, and what areas could change to meet current and anticipated needs. A Master Plan Steering Committee guided the update process.

CLIENT: Town of Canton, MA

PROBLEM: The 2003 Master Plan required an update and needed to consider a  framework considering transportation, housing, economic development, natural resources, cultural assets, and recreation.

SOLUTION: There were two subcontractors, two significant simultaneous parallel studies, and a 12-person steering committee.

Public engagement included multiple public workshops and open houses, on-line surveys targeting MBTA commuters and the business community, community-wide online surveys, stakeholder interviews, a newspaper Op-ed series, and focus groups.

BENEFITS: Generous amounts of public input resulted in an updated plan and strategy to lead Canton into the future!

View the plan.

Krista Moravec, AICP

Sr. planner, PrOJECT MANAGER

kmoravec@horsleywitten.com