The challenges facing our region are in the news every day: Families can’t find homes they can afford, even as new subdivisions sprawl across the region’s open space. Employers can’t find the educated workers they need, yet our public schools lack adequate resources. Roadways are crumbling, while the demand for more transit goes unmet. Water levels are falling in our rivers and reservoirs, but will soon be rising along the coast due to global warming. The region is becoming more diverse, but racial and economic inequality are getting worse. The list goes on.

These contradictory challenges are mirrored in the actions we take as individual communities, businesses, or households. We try to solve our problems one at a time, with little appreciation for the unintended consequences our actions may have down the road or in the future. Cities and towns, residents, businesses, advocates, and political leaders all work hard to solve problems; but real progress comes slowly, if at all. Decision-making is fragmented—with a lack of coordination or understanding across municipal boundaries and among issues of concern. Advocates and public agencies lack the resources needed to make good ideas a reality. Due to outdated laws and ways of thinking, we spend all our time reacting to growth and change, rather than planning better ways to control our future

MetroFuture represents a new way of planning for the future.  It is based in an understanding that Metro Boston is an interconnected system: regional trends shape local conditions, and every local decision has a broader impact on our regional well-being. MetroFuture distinguishes itself by the fact that it is comprehensive, regional, and long-range. It embodies a forward-thinking, unified understanding of how different issues relate to each other, and how each municipality has a role to play in building a brighter future.  The scale and complexity of the region’s challenges make it clear: making a Greater Boston Region requires a transformative plan, a sustainable plan that will improve equity among our residents, strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and improve our quality of life.  MetroFuture is that plan. At its heart are new patterns of growth and development that help to create choices and conserve resources. People would have more housing options and different ways to get around. The region would use less energy and water; and would spend less money extending infrastructure to new developments.  The region’s communities would be more sustainable as well, with stronger municipal finances and high quality education in every city and town. The changes necessary to achieve this plan will not come easily—or cheaply—but the costs of inaction are too high to let current trends continue.