Our History
In honor of Jane Jacobs’ 100th birthday in May 2016, “Jane Jacobs in the Woo” was founded to initiate a year of conversations and actions to build a more vibrant Worcester. During this year, leaders interested in preservation, walkability, open space and community development gathered to form a coalition called the Worcester Urban Planning Partnership (UPP), believing in Worcester’s potential and promise to become one of the most livable cities in New England and beyond. We posited the five essential building blocks for a livable Worcester:
Preserve Worcester’s unique attributes: We support the creative reuse of our historic properties and advocate for the development of locally owned stores and restaurants.
Build walkability in our street design: We want streets for people and bicycles not just for cars! We advocate for the strategic design and placement of garages and parking lots.
Practice excellence in building design: We encourage mixed-use, compact development with windows and doors linking buildings to streets. We support the creation of guidelines and regulations that promote high quality architecture in building design.
Improve the public realm: Well designed sidewalks, street trees, public art, high-quality parks and green spaces make Worcester vibrant and fun and encourage more people to be on the street, participating in civic life.
Welcome civic participation in the development process: We advocate for increased opportunities for the public to participate in planning processes and comment on proposed projects.
The Worcester Urban Planning Partnership had many advocacy successes in its first iteration including the city’s adoption of a Complete Street Policy in 2017 and a successful electoral campaign to adopt a Community Preservation Act (CPA) surcharge in 2022. Additionally, the Worcester UPP initiated Jane Week, an annual week of events to stimulate conversations about Worcester’s built environment. Preservation Worcester, one of the UPP’s partner organizations, continues the tradition of organizing Jane Week each year.
And Now…..
After a dormancy period during the pandemic, the Worcester Urban Planning Partnership (UPP) re-formed in 2023 with renewed energy and commitment to advocate for sound urban design policies that will shape the future growth of Worcester. Worcester UPP is pulling together partners and organizations that represent walk-bike advocates, urbanists, strong towns members, affordable housing and community development partners, open space and climate justice proponents, affordable housing advocates, bus riders, public health groups and more.
Several of our current leaders served on the citizen advisory committee for Worcester’s two year long planning process for the city’s new master plan. Worcester Now/Next completed in 2024, provides a viable framework for Worcester’s growth in the areas of housing, transportation and mobility, and economic development. The Worcester UPP advocates for the implementation of the master plan beginning with the plan’s early action items including the funding of a comprehensive zoning overhaul. In 2024, UPP advocates and partners successfully advocated for Worcester’s adoption of a zoning ordinance to allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) by right, another early action item in the Worcester Now/Next plan.
Currently, we are crafting a questionnaire for 2025 city council candidates that focuses on questions about housing, zoning policies and transportation/mobility actions. Our plan is to publish candidate responses on this website and text Worcester super voters to educate about the candidates’ stances on key land use issues in Worcester.
We invite you to join us and to sign up for our newsletter and updates.