Two Years of VCOD: Where Are We, and What's Next?
Thursday, March 19 at 7pm
Hybrid Event: Congregation Dorshei Tzedek/Second Church
60 Highland St, West Newton & live-streaming on Zoom
In December 2023, Newton passed the Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) amidst intense debate. Opponents warned it would open the floodgates to oversized buildings and rapidly transform our neighborhoods. Two years later, what has actually happened?
The reality has been much more gradual. Join renowned housing policy researcher and Newton native Amy Dain as we review the first wave of VCOD projects—including smart adaptive reuse and modest Multi-Residence Transit (MRT) developments. Amy will unpack the data to explain why the "floodgates" remained closed, how Newton's experience compares to peer communities across the Commonwealth, and what further steps we must take to ensure the VCOD truly delivers on its promise of diverse, accessible housing for everyone.
Amy Dain is a Senior Fellow at Boston Indicators. Amy is a leading expert on zoning policy, land use reform, and housing in Massachusetts. She is known for translating complex zoning issues into accessible insights for policymakers, advocates, and the public. Her in-depth reports, such as Exclusionary By Design and The State of Zoning for Multi-Family Housing, have reached wide audiences. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and other events, and her work is frequently cited in the media. Amy is the author of the Upzone Update, a newsletter produced by Boston Indicators. Amy has worked in house, as a consultant, and in collaboration with many Massachusetts-based think tanks and academic institutions. While her primary focus has been on urbanist issues, she has also worked on issues of public management and environmental policy. She earned her Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA in Russian Studies from Wesleyan University. For several years, she has been on a tour of downtowns and centers across Massachusetts.